North Walks Out on Korea Talks

North Korea packed up its toys and went home today, abruptly ending low-level military talks between the two Koreas in Panmunjom, reports the New York Times. Pressed by Seoul military officials to apologize for shelling Yeonpyeong in November and sinking a warship last March, the North “unilaterally walked away from the table and out of the meeting room,” according to a South Korean official. The talks' failure leaves a giant question mark over the topic of more substantive talks—much less six-party talks about Pyongyang's nuclear program.

The two sides “failed to narrow the differences over the agenda for a high-level meeting,” says a South Korean official, despite talks that ran long yesterday and into today. Pyongyang maintains that the South provoked the island attack, and denies responsibility in the sinking of the Cheonan.