ANKARA

North Korea criticized a recent summit between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, calling it "a diplomatic farce created by Seoul's anxiety to alleviate Washington's 'misunderstanding,’" state media reported.

The statement was issued by the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) in a commentary Monday following the weekend summit.

During the summit, the two leaders underscored the importance of strengthening bilateral as well as trilateral cooperation with the US for peace and stability.

The meeting came shortly before Lee's scheduled talks with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday, Yonhap News Agency reported.

"It would be right to say that the recent ROK-Japan summit was a diplomatic show caused by the uneasiness of Seoul, which aims to remove the misunderstanding of Washington," KCNA said.

North Korea also accused Lee of taking a "pro-Japanese attitude" to dispel the suspicion of "his master" and avoid any diplomatic disaster during his summit with Trump.

Lee's desire to prove his "pro-Japanese creed" will "further worsen the security crisis in the region," it added.

It also accused Lee of "using peace and security on the Korean peninsula and in the region as a bargaining chip" and of "acting as a scout for realizing the aggressive US-Japan-ROK triangular military cooperation."

ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, the official name of South Korea.

Pyongyang said it will never remain a "passive onlooker to the worrying situation being created by the US and its followers seeking hegemony."