A North Korean youth football team has boycotted a game against a South Korean squad amid renewed animosity between the two countries.
Organizers of a regional competition at Kunming in China's Yunnan Province said an under-14 team run by North Korea's military athletes corps refused to play a scheduled game against Kwangsung Middle School, which is attached to professional club Incheon United.
Incheon City, which co-sponsors the event, said Wednesday the boycott was in line with the North's announcement that it will no longer deal with its southern neighbor because Seoul refused to allow its citizens, except for two private delegations, to visit and pay respects to late leader Kim Jong Il.
Incheon says the North's team pulled out of the competition, which also involves teams from China and Japan.
