North Korea has hit out at South Korean President Lee Jae Myung — calling him a "hypocrite" — over his remarks on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula during his trip to the United States.

During his visit to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on Monday, Lee said that the alliance between South Korea and the US would be "upgraded to a global level" when "there is a path for denuclearization, peace and coexistence on the Korean Peninsula."

How has North Korea reacted to Lee's remarks?

On Wednesday, Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said that Lee had  "pretended that he had a will to restore the relations" with the North, but had revealed "his true colours as a confrontation maniac" and a "hypocrite" with his comments in the US.

The agency added that the South Korean president's mention of "denuclearization" was "little short of a naive dream like trying to catch a cloud floating in the sky".

Lee took office after a snap presidential election in June and has since been seeking warmer ties with the nuclear-armed North Korea.

His government has removed anti-North loudspeakers and ordered discussions on the restoration of some past deals between the two Koreas in a bid to ease tensions.

Status as nuclear power "inevitable," says North

Following the failed 2019 summit with the United States, Pyongyang has repeatedly stated that it will never relinquish its nuclear weapons and has declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear state.

"Our status as a nuclear power is an inevitable choice that accurately reflects hostile threats from the outside and changes in the global security forces structure," KCNA said.

The agency made no mention of US President Donald Trump's comments on Monday during his meeting with Lee, when Trump  said that he would like to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again this year.

Trump boasts about his personal relationship with Kim, having met with him three times during his first term as US president.

Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko