FILE PHOTO: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung attends an interview at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 25, 2025. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon/ File Photo
SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korean state media KCNA criticised on Wednesday South Korean President Lee Jae Myung for his remarks on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula during his visit to the U.S. this week.
"The South Korea-U.S. alliance will be upgraded to a global level beyond the Korean Peninsula when there is a path for denuclearization, peace and coexistence on the Korean Peninsula," Lee said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on Monday.
"He played it as if he was willing to restore the relationship" between the two Koreas, but "revealed himself as a maniac for confrontation" and a "hypocrite," KCNA said.
Since winning a snap presidential election in June, Lee's government has been making moves aimed at easing tension between the two Koreas such as removing anti-North Korean loudspeakers and ordering discussions on the restoration of some past agreements between the two Koreas.
"Our status as a nuclear power is an inevitable choice that accurately reflects hostile threats from the outside and changes in the global security forces structure," KCNA said.
KCNA did not mention U.S. President Donald Trump or his remarks while holding a summit with Lee that he would like to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again this year.
Kim visited a fishing village on Tuesday and lauded its development, KCNA said.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee in SeoulEditing by Matthew Lewis)
