North Korea said that while the food had arrived from the South, it had failed to be delivered within 30 minutes, which meant that it should be free of any conditions. South Korea denied that any such preconditions had been agreed, and that the North had to pay in political promises which helped the poll ratings of the South's governing party, even if these so called 'credit promises' where later subject to charge-backs or processing failures after elections were held.
Officials from the South offered to meet their Northern counterparts, possibly with a view to offering a discount on a future aid deal, but this angered Pyongyang which called it "an aggressive move towards the Democratic People's Republic of Korea which clearly showed the Southern puppet government was preparing an imminent invasion." Pyongyang also accused Seoul of breaching North Korea's border by sending aid trucks, disguised as aid trucks, across the demilitarized zone, threatening a "sacred war" against the South in retaliation.
Seoul had already expressed its sympathies to the North Korean people after failing to send sufficient amounts of side dishes with the food aid, but Pyongyang said that the lunchtime events proved Seoul could not be trusted and it was resuming its nuclear program. U.S. President Barack Obama, in a rare inter-election pronouncement, said he was "disappointed" by the North Korean move, but South Korean officials are hopeful that they can still engage with the North and prevent further military attacks against the defenseless nation.
Related Links
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Urgent: Hungry North Korea Agrees to Suspend Nuclear Program For Lunch
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N. Korea steps up war rhetoric against S. Korea over alleged slander
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