There was hope the run-up to North Korea's participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics would be smooth sailing, but the first major hiccup came late Monday night.<br />Out of the blue,... the North called off a joint cultural event scheduled to be held at Mount Kumgang to celebrate the first Olympics on Korean soil in 30 years.<br />Our Ji Myung-kil has more. <br /> The joint cultural performance between South and North Korea set for February 4th at the North's Mount Kumgang had been part of a series of planned events ahead of the Winter Olympics in South Korea.<br />The joint events during the PyeongChang Games were seen as a thawing of inter-Korean ties.<br /> However, a telegram from the North late Monday reportedly blamed "biased" and "insulting" media coverage from the South on the North's planned events for the Olympics.<br />The North was also angry at South Korean media reports of a possible military parade in Pyongyang on February 8th, a day before the opening ceremony of the Winter Games.<br /> South Korea's unification ministry said the North's sudden decision was regrettable adding that the North should uphold all the remaining agreements that have been made.<br />Those are the art performances and taekwondo demonstration.<br /> The North is also sending hundreds of delegates, cheerleaders and performers to the South over the course of the Olympics.<br />The inter-Korean talks which resulted in the agreement came after tensions on the Korean peninsula reached their highest point in decades.<br /> But there have been concerns that the links between the Koreas could breach international sanctions on North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.<br />Therefore, Seoul is weighing how to support North's participation in the Olympics while not providing cash to the North... as cash payments to the regime are banned under UN sanctions.<br /> South Korea earlier said it would not pay the fees for using the North's airport and airspace.<br />Ji Myung-kil, Arirang News. <br />
