A South Korean civic group announced on Friday that a joint inter-Korean ceremony planned to be held next week in Pyongyang will not take place, accusing the South Korean government of failing to resume long-stalled exchanges between the two Koreas.

The South Korean Committee for the Joint Implementation of the June 15 Summit Declaration had previously pushed ahead with a plan to hold an event in North Korea to celebrate the 17th anniversary of the June 15th South-North Joint Declaration.

The organization was granted permission from the South Korean governmentto make contact with its North Korean counterpart on May 31, which