North Korea hails Kim achievements, warns U.S.

May 9 (UPI) -- North Korea hailed the "achievements" of leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday, the two-year anniversary of Pyongyang's Seventh Party Congress.

Workers' Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun claimed the inter-Korea summit and other Kim achievements reflect a 2016 pledge to transform North Korea and strengthen state ideology.

All plans are on course for "national unification," the newspaper claimed.

The statements of praise for Kim come as state media continues to issue warnings to the United States.

Those warnings came Wednesday, the same day U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited the North to return home with the three remaining U.S. detainees.

I had productive meetings in Pyongyang with Chairman Kim Jong-un and made progress. I'm delighted to bring home three Americans.

- Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) May 9, 2018

North Korea said the United States should "refrain from behaving in a way that clouds the atmosphere for dialogue" and should demonstrate "sincerity" about talks.

State media specifically condemned statements from the "White House National Security Council, the State Department" for not standing back from a policy of "maximum pressure."

But North Korea also told readers the "president of the United States applauded the inter-Korea Summit and the Panmunjom Declaration of April 27."

South Korean news service Newsis reported Wednesday that Kim's recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Dalian, China, was marked by a reaffirmation of the bilateral alliance, but also a request for Chinese assistance on naval matters.

The Bohai Sea around Dalian is a strategically important area from where China's Type 001A aircraft carrier Shandong was first launched, and the location of the second meeting may have been symbolic.

In April China held a massive navy parade in the South China Sea in areas that define the country's potential defense lines at sea.

Beijing could be eyeing new perimeters of defense that could overlap with the claims of Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines, according to the report.