North Korea slammed South Korea for "begging" for cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO), claiming that it's an attempt for the Yoon Suk Yeol administration to resolve a crisis and ease anxiety over national security.

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) said on Wednesday that since the start of the new year, Seoul has been "playing with fire" in targeting Pyongyang.

The KCNA said Seoul is persistently clinging onto NATO in an attempt to crush the North Korean regime using NATO forces and the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy.

The news agency criticized Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo for pleading for continued ties and the expansion of cooperation while speaking with Adm. Rob Bauer, chair of NATO's military committee.

During Kim's phone conversation with Bauer last Tuesday, Seoul expressed concerns over Pyongyang bolstering its military cooperation with Moscow, before calling for a joint response from the international community.

[Photo : YONHAP News]