The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday accused South Korea of blocking the reunification of the Korean peninsula, the official KCNA news agency reported.

In a statement to mark the 10th anniversary of the June 15 Joint Declaration, the DPRK Committee for the Implementing of the June 15 Joint Declaration said South Korea had banned South Koreans to attend a planned meeting to mark the 10th anniversary of the June 15 Joint Declaration in Pyongyang as well as all related contacts between the people of the two sides.

The June 15 Joint Declaration was signed by the DPRK and South Korea in 2000 aimed at achieving the early peaceful reunification of the the two Koreas.

The DPRK statement said the South Koran authorities have been violating the June 15 Joint Declaration over the last decade and "put an end to the events for reunification common to the nation and brought the dark clouds of a war to hang over the Korean Peninsula."

The South Korean authorities are suppressing patriotic forces of the reunification movement by holding "local self-governing bodies" elections and by fabricating the case of the sinking of the "Cheonan" warship, said the statement.

Those seeking war and confrontation were "fated to meet a miserable end," it added.

The 1,200-ton "Cheonan" warship with 104 crew members on board sank on March 26 near the maritime border with the DPRK after an explosion. Only 58 sailors survived the sinking. South Korea issued results of an investigation on May 20, claiming that the warship was sunken by a DPRK torpedo.