North Korea
© KCNA / Reuters
North Korea has cancelled a cultural performance due to be held in conjunction with South Korea next week, according to officials in Seoul.

South Korea's unification ministry said Monday that North Korea's decision to drop the event was "very regrettable,"Reuters reports. North Korea called off the event, blaming South Korean media for encouraging "insulting" public sentiment towards the North, the ministry added.

The decision comes after a recent thaw in relations between the two nations.

North and South Korea are sending a combined women's ice hockey team to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, set to kick off on February 9. The neighboring states have also agreed to make a joint entrance under a unified Korean peninsula flag at the opening ceremony.

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