Pyongyang denounced Seoul's renewed demand for abandoning its nuclear weapons program through the six-nation talks, calling the country "a shameless thief wielding up a stick," apparently referring to Seoul's own nuclear activities recently disclosed.
In a speech at the U.N. General Assembly Friday, South Korea's Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon urged the North to discard its nuclear ambitions and join the international community.
Pyongyang Radio Station lashed out at Ban, calling him a "U.S. flunky," saying his speech should have focused on clearing Seoul's own past record of nuclear experiments.
Pyongyang has been boycotting the six-way talks aimed to resolve the secretive state's protracted nuclear standoff, amid which Seoul recently acknowledged some of its scientists conducted what it calls "purely academic" laboratory nuke experiments in the past.