N. Korea cancels talks with S. Korean aid organization

North Korea on Tuesday unilaterally canceled plans to hold talks with two South Korean aid organizations that had planned to visit the communist country to discuss humanitarian assistance for flood victims.

Okedongmu Children in Korea and Foundation of Inter-Korean Cooperation said they received fax messages from North Korea's National Reconciliation Council calling off talks set for Wednesday in Gaeseong.

The two organizations said they were invited to visit the communist country to discuss details on how best to provide humanitarian aid to flood victims. 

Gaeseong lies on the west coast, just north of the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas, and is home to an industrial complex for South Korean companies.

"We plan to try to contact the North to set another date for the meeting," an Okedongmu official said.

Independent sources, meanwhile, said that Pyongyang may have called off the meeting because of the annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian military exercise that South Korea is conducting with the United States.

Others said that the meeting might have been canceled due to damage caused by Typhoon Bolaven, which hit the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday. (Yonhap News)