North Korea has notified the France-based organizer of an international military sports event of its decision not to attend an event to be held in South Korea's central city of Mungyeong in October, the defense ministry said Sunday.
  
In a letter sent to the Conseil International du Sport Militaire on Friday, North Korea's sports education committee said it will not attend the 2015 CISM World Games Korea, according to the Ministry of National Defense.
  
The reason for the absence was not elaborated upon, it said.
  
The world military sports event is scheduled for a 10-day run from Oct. 2 in Mungyeong, about 250 kilometers southeast of Seoul, and nearby cities.
  
The strained inter-Korean relations are believed to be keeping the North from joining South Korea-hosted global events.
  
Seoul earlier officially invited the North to send a vice defense minister to the Seoul Defense Dialogue set for September in the capitol city, only to be rejected by Pyongyang.
 
"We hoped that the military sports event could become an opportunity to untangle the worsened South-North relations, but it fell through regretfully," a defense ministry official said, asking not to be named. "We call on the North to come to the inter-Korean talks our government has proposed."
  
So far, a total of 5,440 soldiers from 72 foreign countries have signed up for the upcoming sports event, including China, Russia, England, Germany, France and Myanmar, while 37 more countries are planning to join, according to the ministry.
  
North Korea and 39 other countries including Libya, Afghanistan, Laos and Mexico, have rejected their invitations. (Yonhap)