South, North Korea talks cancelled after discord over delegate

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un makes a speech at the national meeting of light industrial workers in Pyongyang March 18, 2013 in this picture released by the North's official KCNA news agency on March 19, 2013. REUTERS/KCNA

SEOUL (Reuters) - Planned high-level talks between South and North Korean after a nearly six-year hiatus were scrapped on Tuesday, a South Korean government official said, after North Korea objected to the diplomatic rank of the South's chief delegate.

North Korea's earlier offer for talks came as a surprise after weeks of bombastic threats to obliterate the South and launch a nuclear strike against the United States.