A historic inter-Korean Taekwondo performance scheduled to take place at the Vatican has been called off as North Korea withdrew from the event. 

According to sources in the Korean martial art field, the North Korea-led International Taekwondo Federation(ITF) recently notified the South Korea-led World Taekwondo(WT) that the North will not be attending the performance.

The two taekwondo bodies were scheduled to perform at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City on May 30th in front of dignitaries including Pope Francis.

In the notice, North Korea reportedly cited the Max Thunder military exercise between South Korea and the U.S. as the reason for pulling out of the joint Taekwondo demonstration. 

The event was first proposed by a Vatican cultural envoy who led a papal delegation to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics held in South Korea in February.   

Taekwondo demonstrators of the South and North Korean organizations have recently held several joint performances on various occasions including the opening and closing ceremonies of the world championships in Muju, South Korea last year as well as an event leading up to the PyeongChang Games.

They also performed in North Korea when a South Korean art troupe held concerts in Pyongyang in April. 

[Photo : YONHAP News]