"We place tremendous importance on these meetings," Ahn Byung Soo, the North Korean spokesman, said at a news conference this evening.

A South Korean spokesman, Byung Bo Choi, expressed regret about the cancellation of the talks.

Replying to the visitors' accusations, a North Korean spokesman denied allegations of human rights abuses in his country.

In response, a North Korean spokesman said "such human scum and bloodsucker is not entitled to take part in the talks."

This year, North Korean vessels have repeatedly crept across the border before turning back under threat, a South Korean military spokesman said today.

A Korean spokesman challenged Labor Secretary Ron Brown to find $20 million to help reopen hundreds of burned-out Korean-owned liquor stores.

A South Korean spokesman said the matter was between Seoul and Washington.

A Korean spokesman said that "a certain region had been over-represented" in the past; and for this Asian summit, Singapore was invited.

In their discussions with me at this time, North Korean spokesmen seemed convinced that the American positions posed a serious danger to their country and to its political regime.

Such activities, the North Korean spokesman said, were "getting on the nerves" of the North.