North Korea says it will not seek any further negotiations with its southern neighbour after two days of military talks broke down yesterday. In a statement reported today by the official North Korean news agency, Pyongyang said the South has demonstrated it is not interested in dialogue and that North Korea will never beg for peace. South Korean officials took the news calmly, and Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said officials are still keeping the door open to dialogue. The talks, this week, led by colonels from the two sides, were the first since North Korea staged an artillery attack on a South Korean island in November. In Washington The U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley called the collapse of the talks a missed opportunity by the North.