It has become more and more unlikely that athletes from South and North Korea will march together at the opening and closing ceremonies for the Beijing Olympic Games in August.

An official at the Unification Ministry said Seoul left a telephone message to Pyongyang requesting talks on the proposed joint marching late last month, but that North Korea refused to reply.

The official said that a North Korean soldier's killing of a South Korean tourist at the Mount Geumgang resort has complicated the matter.

Athletes from the two Koreas marched together in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2004 Athens Olympics.