North Korea said Friday that South Korean President Moon Jae-in miserably failed in improving inter-Korean ties during his first 100 days in office.
The Rodong Sinmun, the main mouthpiece of North Korea, harshly critiqued Moon's performance, calling it "miserable and disappointing," and claiming that the South Korean president holds a hostile stance toward Pyongyang.
"In particular, he failed in inter-Korean relations," the paper said. "He spoke of dialogue and an implementation of inter-Korean agreements, but in reality, he acted in the opposite direction."
South Korean President Moon Jae-in (L) and his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-un (Yonhap)
Moon marked his 100th day in office Thursday. He has maintained a two-track approach of sanctions and dialogue to resolve North Korea's nuclear issue.
He said that Seoul will take stern response to North Korea's provocative acts, but it is willing to have talks and engagement with the North under right conditions.
Pyongyang denounced Moon's policy, saying that sanctions and dialogue cannot go together. It has rejected South Korean civic groups' bid for inter-Korean exchanges and Seoul's offer for military and family reunion talks.
Tensions rose after North Korea fired two intercontinental ballistic missiles in July. The North threatened last week to fire four missile strikes near the US territory of Guam after US President Donald Trump warned of "fire and fury" should Pyongyang continue to threaten it.
North Korea's newspaper called on Moon to abandon what it called Seoul's submission to Washington.
It took issue with Moon's order to deploy four additional interception missile launchers of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery. The US missile defense system is aimed at curbing North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.
"If South Korea wants to better relations with us, it should part with the foreign power and take sincere and practical measures to that end," it said. (Yonhap)
