I Spoke too Soon

Talks between the two Koreas have been called off, allegedly by the North.  Meetings in Pan Mun Jom were held over the weekend in order to set the agenda for what was to be Wednesday's meeting in Seoul.  But, according to reports, North Korea wanted to send low-level bureaucrats to meet with South Korea's Minister of Unification. That, of course, is unacceptable - meetings must occur between bureaucrats of the same level.  So the talks are off.
Bloomberg reports that all this was a ruse, anyway:

The announcement of North Korea’s initial proposal for talks with the South was significant, coming a day before the Obama-Xi summit, Korea University’s Yoo said.
“North Korea was trying to create a facade of eased inter-Korean tensions, hoping to relieve the pressure the U.S. and the Chinese have been levying on Pyongyang,” Yoo said. “Instead, Obama and Xi reinforced their aligned commitment to continue pressuring the North, which led to Pyongyang seeing no need for inter-Korean dialogue.”

A South Korean soldier works at a check point on the road linked to North Korea, near the Demilitarized Zone in Paju, South Korea.