N. Korea warns of anti-proliferation group

SEOUL, April 22 (UPI) -- North Korea warned South Korea against joining a U.S.-led anti-proliferation program during talks Wednesday in Kaesong, a North Korea border city.

The North Korean delegation at the meeting said South Korea's joining of the Proliferation Security Initiative would lead to an inter-Korean "confrontation," officials told the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

South Korea's Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyon confirmed the issue was raised. Previously, Pyongyang has warned joining the anti-proliferation campaign would be considered a "declaration of war." South Korea said it still intends to join the initiative.

"When you look at a message or a keynote speech, there is what can be called an introduction similar to that of a written document. I believe the North Korean side did mention the PSI issue," he said during a news briefing.

North Korea proposed the Kaesong meeting, saying it has an "important notice" for Seoul about the joint industrial project in Kaesong.

South Korean officials said North Korea demanded South Korean firms in Kaesong begin paying land-use user fees in 2010 instead 2014, and called for a renegotiation of the joint economic venture's terms, including wages for North Korean workers, Yonhap reported.