NORTH Korean loudspeakers accused the South of "butchery" as the bodies of 24 Northern commandos were handed back yesterday across the border at Panmunjom.
An unprecedented apology from Pyongyang on Sunday concluded three months of argument after the northerners landed on the east coast of South Korea from a disabled mini submarine. It has reopened the path to economic aid and political dialogue with the US and South Korea.
North Korea yesterday indicated its readiness for the first time to take part in a briefing session on proposed peace talks involving the two Koreas, the United States and China.
But yesterday's praise for the dead commandos as "martyrs who fought like heroes" was in sharp contrast to the "deep regret" for the incident expressed earlier by Pyongyang. A voice from a booming loudspeaker claimed that the soldiers - who were shot on South Korean soil - had been "murdered on a regular training mission".
The whole episode suggests division - or at least confusion - among policy makers in Pyongyang, where the possibility of a collapse of its "socialist system" has been openly aired.
A recent editorial in the official Nodong Sinmun newspaper admits the North Korean people are bearing "difficult and heavy burdens", and the future of socialism is now at stake.
President Kim Young sam of South Korea had demanded a direct apology, but settled for a form of wording which avoids mentioning his country. Mr Kim's tough line on the submarine incident had led to disagreement with the US which sought a compromise formula in order to restart the Korean peace process.
The North Korean mini submarine ran aground on the east coast on September 18th.
The four way talks were proposed in April by President Clinton and Mr Kim.