SEOUL, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The third round of colonel-level talks between the U.S.-led U.N. Command (UNC) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has been postponed, the UNC said.

　　The meeting, intended to discuss the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship in March, was tentatively due to take place on Thursday in the truce village of Panmunjom. But the two sides had failed to confirm the date.

　　Further contacts between the two sides are underway to discuss a new date for the meeting, a UNC official told Xinhua.

　　The DPRK has been blamed as the culprit for the sinking of the warship Cheonan, which took lives of 46 sailors, after a multinational investigation concluded that the ship sank due to a torpedo attack from the DPRK. But it denies its involvement.

　　At the last meeting, held on July 23, the UNC proposed a joint group to assess any armistice violations in the warship's sinking, and the two sides exchanged ideas and further details for convening the joint group, according to a UNC press release.

　　The DPRK, meanwhile, urged the United States to unconditionally receive the inspection group dispatched by Pyongyang, saying "it was necessary to investigate the truth of the incident objectively and scientifically," DPRK's state-run KCNA said.