The government has expressed its regret over North Korea's distortion of facts in announcing the decision not to send a cheerleading squad to the Incheon Asian Games.

In a Friday briefing, Unification Ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol, denied that South Korea did not want the North to send its cheering squad as Pyongyang claims.

The spokesman said Seoul hopes for the participation of North Korean athletes and cheerleaders at the games. He said the South had said that it will abide by international practices regarding supporting the cost of their stay in South Korea. He added that Seoul is ready to cooperate with the North to make positive contributions to inter-Korean relations. 

But Lim added that as North Korea announced it will not send a cheering squad to the Asiad, it would not be right for Seoul to continue to push the North on this matter.
 
Thursday night, Son Kwang-ho, vice-president of the North's National Olympic Committee, appeared on state-run Korean Central Television and announced the decision.
 
He said the North was planning to send a large-scale cheering squad to the sports event in a bid to improve inter-Korean ties and promote national unity, but working-level talks on logistics for the squad collapsed after the South raised issue with its size and related costs.