WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. university institute at the cutting edge of research on North Korea says the South Korean government has terminated its funding, forcing it to close after it rejected demands to change its leadership.

Robert Gallucci, chairman of the U.S.-Korea Institute at John Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, said it will close in May after rejecting "utterly inappropriate meddling" in its academic affairs.

The institute conducts graduate studies on Korean affairs but is best known for the website 38 North, an authoritative source of information and anal...