North Korea has unilaterally canceled test runs of two inter-Korean railways that were slated for Thursday.

The Unification Ministry in Seoul said Wednesday that the North sent a telegram to that effect earlier in the morning, and that Pyongyang also rejected Seoul's proposal to exchange passenger lists for the test runs instead of signing a military security agreement.

The proposal followed one made Monday at inter-Korean military talks on talks on military security guarantees for the test runs. Pyongyang also did not respond to Monday's offer.

The ministry will soon announce its position on the abrupt cancellation after holding an emergency meeting presided over by Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok.

The two Koreas agreed to the test runs in working-level inter-Korean railway talks earlier this month in the North's border city of Gaesong.

The agreement followed one made in June 2004 on conducting the test runs in October of that year. The test runs were indefinitely postponed after objections from the North Korean military.