SEOUL, Aug 27, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - North Korea called South Korean President Lee Jae Myung a "hypocrite" on Wednesday over remarks he made about the denuclearisation of the peninsula during a visit to the United States this week.

Since taking office in June, Lee has sought warmer ties with the nuclear-armed North and has vowed to build "military trust" with Pyongyang.

But North Korea has said it has no interest in improving relations with Seoul, a key regional security ally for Washington.

During his Monday visit to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in the American capital, Lee said Seoul and Washington's alliance would be "upgraded to a global level" when "there is a path for denuclearisation, peace and coexistence on the Korean Peninsula".

Since a failed summit with the United States in 2019, North Korea has repeatedly said it will never give up its nuclear weapons and declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear state.

Lee had "pretended that he had a will to restore the relations" with North Korea, but had revealed "his true colours as a confrontation maniac" and a "hypocrite" with his recent remarks, Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Lee's mention of "'denuclearisation' is little short of a naive dream like trying to catch a cloud floating in the sky," it added.

After meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo last week, Lee also said the two countries -- both security allies of Washington -- had "reaffirmed our shared commitment to the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula".

KCNA said Wednesday that North Korea would "remain unchanged in our stand not to abandon the nuclear weapons, the prestige and honor of the state".

During his meeting with Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, Lee asked the US president -- who has often boasted of his personal relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un -- to help make peace between the North and South.

"The only person who can make progress is you Mr. President", Lee said, adding: "If you become the peacemaker, then I will assist you by being a pacemaker."

Kim's 2019 summit with Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, which discussed North Korea's denuclearisation, collapsed because the two sides disagreed on what Pyongyang would concede in return for sanctions relief.

During his meeting with Lee, Trump -- who met Kim three times in his first term -- said he hoped to meet again with the North Korean leader, possibly this year.

Trump once famously said he and Kim had fallen "in love", but ultimately failed to yield a lasting agreement.

Kim has since been emboldened by the war in Ukraine, securing critical support from Russia after sending thousands of North Korean troops to fight alongside Moscow.