The United States has urged North Korea to refrain from issuing threats to South Korea and instead seek to improve inter-Korean ties.

State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters on Friday that he is aware of reports that the North issued a strong military threat against the South earlier in the day.

Toner said the North’s move to issue such threats is obviously not the kind of behavior that the U.S. is looking for from Pyongyang.

He added that Washington has said many times that it wants the North to put its relations with the South on a more positive track.