North Korea on Tuesday rejected South Korea's call to apologize for the deadly sinking of a South Korean naval ship five year ago, further dimming the prospects for improved ties between the two sides anytime soon, Yonhap News Agency reported.
In a statement, the North's powerful National Defense Commission claimed the North had nothing to do with the incident that left 46 sailors dead.
After its own investigation, assisted by international experts, the South's then Lee Myung-bak administration announced the communist nation was responsible for the torpedo attack against the Cheonan ship just south of their high-tension border in the Yellow Sea.
The Cheonan case was one of the biggest turning points in inter-Korean relations.
The Lee government imposed a package of tough economic sanctions on Pyongyang, effectively suspending all inter-Korean joint projects except for the Kaesong Industrial Complex.
The current Park Geun-hye administration maintains that the North should first take a responsible measure in connection with the Cheonan incident if it wants to see the sanctions, dubbed the May 24th Measure, lifted.
The South has been putting more pressure on the North as it marks the fifth anniversary of the March 26 tragedy this week.