North Korea has canceled this year's inter-Korean May Day celebration, which had been slated for early next month in Pyongyang.

The head of the North's General Federation of Trade Unions announced the boycott at working-level talks held April tenth between labor groups from the two Koreas. He blamed the boycott on what he said was Seoul's hostile stance on the nuclear issue and human rights.

However, a South Korean delegate who had attended the meeting said the two sides agreed to continue exchanges between industrial labor unions. Therefore, a planned visit to the North by South Korean labor groups will go forward next month as scheduled.

Since the historic June 15th inter-Korean summit talks in 2000, the two Koreas have held a joint May Day festival every year. Last year's event was held in the South Korean industrial city of Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.