NK Blames Seoul for Rejecting News Exchange

North Korea Saturday accused Seoul of pretending to seek dialogue while blocking reconciliation, after the Seoul government said it would not allow news content exchange between media outlets in the two divided Koreas.

South Korea said early this month it would not approve an October 2008 deal between journalist groups from the two divided nations to share articles, photos and videos through their Web sites, Yonhap said Saturday.

The disapproval is "an act that confronts the nation against each other, running against the wishes of reconciliation and unification," the North's official Korean Central Broadcasting Station said, quoting a statement by the North Korean Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, an organ of the ruling Workers' Party.

The Unification Ministry, which governs inter-Korean affairs, expressed concern that the North may use the deal to spread its communist propaganda to the South.

The ties between the two sides have eroded quickly after South Korean President Lee took office early last year with a tough stance on the North.

Under the October agreement, South Korean news reports would have been published on North Korea's official Web site, Uriminzokkiri, which would have sent its own reports to a South Korean site in exchange.