North Korea has criticized Seoul's recent decision to replace the previously used term, "main enemy," with "major threat" in reference to the communist state in a soon-to-be released defense white paper.

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper for the North's ruling Workers’ Party, said the new term flies in the face of the spirit of the June 15th inter-Korean joint declaration, calling Seoul's move "grossly hostile and anti-nationalistic."

The paper urged Seoul to unconditionally suspend the publication of the defense paper, warning of detrimental consequences the South Korean government's move would have on inter-Korean relations.

In November, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young threw his suppoprt behind the Defense Ministry's decision to stop defining North Korea as the 'main enemy' in its defense white paper, calling the term an outdated concept left over from the Cold War era.