North Korea blamed President Park Geun-hye on Thursday for warning against the North's provocation during her summit with China's leader, saying inter-Korean ties can return to confrontation at any time.
  
The North's message came as Park held a summit with her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Wednesday in Beijing where they warned Pyongyang against taking any action that could escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula. She expressed gratitude to Xi for the constructive role Beijing has played in defusing tension.
  
The North's committee for the peaceful reunification of Korea said that South Korea should refrain from making comments that could dampen inter-Korean ties.
  
"If the South's leader has basic political perspectives, (she) should be careful of making comments that can hamper inter-Korean relations at a sensitive time," the committee said in a statement, carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency.
  
"Currently, inter-Korean ties are like standing on thin ice that can be easily broken," it said, adding that whether the bilateral relations can be improved hinges on Seoul's attitude.
  
Just one day before, the North denied Seoul's claims that its recent expression of regret over the land mine explosion near the inter-Korean border in early August is equal to an apology.
  
Last week long-strained Seoul-Pyongyang ties took a dramatic twist as the two sides reached a landmark deal on easing military tension and resuming a much-awaited reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.
  
The North expressed "regret" over the land mine explosion that left two South Korean soldiers seriously injured as part of the deal. South Korea has said that the North's regret is the equivalent of an apology by international standards. (Yonhap)