North Korea's delay of family reunion criticised

South Korea Saturday denounced North Korea's unilateral delay of the planned reunion of families separated by the Korean War (1950-53).

"It is deeply regrettable that North Korea unilaterally delayed the family reunion just four days before the event," Xinhua quoted Kim Eyi Do, Seoul's unification ministry spokesman, as saying.

Seoul and Pyongyang originally planned to hold the family reunion event for six days from Sep 25 in North Korea's scenic resort of Mount Kumgang. But North Korea said that it would postpone the event "until normal atmosphere was created" for the two countries to be able to hold dialogue and negotiations.

The highly symbolic event would have been the first reunion in three years for families separated for decades by the Korean War.

The reunion programme had been suspended after North Korea's shelling of a South Korean border island in November 2010.