North Korea on Monday canceled its participation in the upcoming World University Games in South Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported, quoting the North Korean Central Broadcasting Station.
North Korea cited massive anti-North Korean protests in Seoul last Friday, the 58th Korean Independence Day, as the reason for calling off its plan to take part in the biennial sports event in Daegu, Yonhap quoted the radio station as saying.
The station quoted a statement issued by North Korea's Committee for Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland as saying, "It is an obvious reality that we can not send our athletes to university games in Daegu, South Korea, a dangerous place where brothers do harm to their brothers' safety and dignity."