The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Seoul

South Korea withdrew officials from a joint economic office with North Korea at Pyongyang's request Thursday in a diplomatic spat stemming from Seoul's new tougher stance on the North's nuclear disarmament.

The North made the demand Monday after South Korea's unification minister said Seoul would hold off on expanding the joint-Korean industrial zone in a North Korean border city until the dispute over Pyongyang's nuclear programs was resolved, Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyeon said. South Korea's conservative new president, Lee Myung-bak, has pledged to review rapprochement projects.