North Korea says it has delayed the opening of a newly built hospital in the Gaesung industrial complex jointly developed with South Korea, apparently to shun direct contacts with South Korean officials at a time when international pressure is mounting on North Korea to abandon its nuclear arms program.

A hospital official said it would be difficult to hold the opening ceremony under "current circumstances," referring to North Korea's recent announcement it would pull out from the six-party talks, aimed at resolving a two-year-old standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

The official added, however, the hospital's operations of providing medical care to South Korean workers in the complex, will continue for now unaffected.