The much-anticipated inter-Korean governmental talks have been canceled.

Seoul's Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk held a news conference on Tuesday night and explained that the North unilaterally notified the South of its decision to call off the talks.

Kim said the two sides failed to narrow differences regarding who would represent each side after the North raised an issue with the level of the South's chief delegate to the talks.

Liaison officers of Seoul and Pyongyang exchanged their lists of five delegates at 1 p.m., to begin the two-day meeting on Wednesday in Seoul. The spokesman said, however, the North demanded the South to raise the level of its chief negotiator to a ministerial official. The two sides tried to reach a compromise through a direct hotline until the North's notification ended discussions at around 7 p.m.

The spokesman said that the South designated Vice Unification Minister Kim Nam-sik as its chief negotiator while the North named Kang Ji-yong, the director of the secretariat of the Committee for Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland.

The spokesman criticized North Korea for trying to match Seoul's Unification Minister with its director-level official. Calling the decision unfortunate, the spokesman said that it is irrational for the North to cancel inter-Korean governmental talks with a fixed date and location.

He then called on the North to change its position and come to the inter-Korean talks.

Liaison officers of the two Koreas have closed their operations and there will be no further discussions on the issue Tuesday.

The two Koreas had previously agreed to hold government-level talks in Seoul on Wednesday and Thursday.