North Korea refused Tuesday to release a seized South Korean worker during tense talks with Seoul officials, underlining the soured nature of relations between the two rival countries.
The meeting had been billed as a major step — the first government-to-government dialogue since conservative South Korean President Lee Myung Bak took office in February 2008 with a vow to get tough on North Korea over its nuclear ambitions.
But the talks — which lasted just 22 minutes — only started after a full day of bickering over how discussions should be conducted.
The North seized the South Korean worker last month for allegedly denouncing its political system. The North is also holding two U.S. journalists it seized last month and has vowed to put on trial.
