South Korea on Tuesday dismissed the possibility of forming a unified team with North Korea for the upcoming Gwangju Summer Universiade, as the two sides are at loggerheads over the recent knife attack on U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Mark Lippert. 

Given public sentiment here and current inter-Korean relations, it's "not appropriate" to field such a joint team to the July games, a unification ministry official told reporters on background.

He was responding to a news report that the South may consider a unified delegation if the North makes such a request.

The communist nation has submitted its application to participate in the international sports event for university athletes, according to the organizing committee.

Pyongyang plans to send a 108-member team to the biennial games to be held in the South's southwestern city from July 3-14.

The South's government, the ministry official said, will provide "active support" for the successful hosting of the event.

The two Koreas are expected to hold consultations on the logistics of the North's delegation months or weeks ahead of the event. The North may also seek to dispatch a cheerleading squad.

It sent a 273-member team of athletes and coaches to the Incheon Asian Games last year. At that time, the North withdrew plans to send cheerleaders, citing the South's negative response.

Rifts between the two Koreas have deepened since the U.S. envoy was assailed by a knife-wielding South Korean nationalist last week.

Lippert suffered a four-inch cut to his face and was also stabbed in his wrist, although his wounds were not life-threatening.

Pyongyang claimed it was an act of justice for the U.S. holding joint military drills with the South on the peninsula. Seoul has strongly criticized Pyongyang for approving of the attack. (Yonhap)