1 of 2 | South Korea President Park Geun-hye, wearing yellow, watches the parade in China with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and former Chinese Presidents Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. North Korea's representative at the event, envoy Choi Ryong Hae, was seated in a far corner of the observation stand. The parade marked the 70th anniversary of victory over Japan and the end of World War II. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI |
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BEIJING, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- North Korea issued a warning against South Korea a day after Seoul and Beijing issued a joint statement that called for denuclearization on the Korean peninsula.
A spokesman from North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland said on KCNA Thursday, "the South Korean leader [President Park Geun-hye] must think carefully about making frivolous remarks that could disrupt inter-Korea relations at this critical time," South Korean newspaper Korea Economic Daily reported.
The North Korean spokesman said it is up to South Korea to improve relations, or fall back into a worsening situation – a reference to tensions that subsided after the Aug. 25 agreement between North and South.
Pyongyang's statement comes after President Park Geun-hye and Chinese leader Xi Jinping said they oppose North Korea's nuclear program in a joint statement issued in Beijing on Wednesday.
Xi and Park also had said the six-party talks on denuclearization must resume, and that Seoul and Beijing do not tolerate any future North Korea action that raises tensions.
China's relations with North Korea have steadily deteriorated since Kim Jong Un fully assumed power in 2012, and Kim has yet to meet with the Chinese leader. By contrast, South Korea's Park has met with Xi six times before Wednesday, and in Beijing the South Korean president was treated with special state courtesy not given to Choi Ryong Hae, a Kim Jong Un aide who last visited China in 2013, Yonhap reported.
North Korea has previously condemned China as an "unprincipled nation" and a brief meeting between Xi and Choi on Wednesday did not go beyond a simple handshake, according to Yonhap.
Choi also was seated in a far right corner of the parade stand during China's Victory Day parade on Thursday, while Park sat alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and Xi at the observance stand.
