South Korean pool reporters covering inter-Korean family reunions in North Korea have cut short their schedule due to the North’s restriction and interference in their coverage.

The decision came after the North demanded the expulsion of a South Korean reporter Wednesday for calling a former South Korean held in the communist state an abductee.

Four reporters who went to the North’s tourist resort of Mount Geumgang Thursday with the second reunion group will also return.

Wednesday's standoff between North Korean officials and the 17 reporters delayed the return of 99 South Korean families by ten hours after three days of temporary reunions.

Protesting South Korean correspondents' use of the phrases “abducted” and “seized,” the North also blocked the audio portion of TV reports on the reunions.

The reunions are the 13th since the landmark 2000 inter-Korean summit. The event included for the first time a South Korean fisherman abducted to the North almost four decades ago and South Korean soldiers taken prisoner during the Korean War.

North Korea denies abducting South Korean fishermen, insisting they voluntarily defected.