North Korea criticizes Australia for aligning with US, S. Korea

Pyongyang, Oct 14 : North Korea slammed and threatened Australia on Saturday for aligning itself with South Korea and the US and for its attitude towards the Kim Jong-un regime, according to state-run media.

"Lately, Australia is showing dangerous moves of zealously joining the frenzied political and military provocations of the US against North Korea," KCNA said in a statement.

"The Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop personally expressed her support for the stand of the US to consider all options including the use of force towards the North.

"And turned up at Panmunjom on October 11 together with the Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne to condemn the North during her visit to South Korea," it added.

The statement refers to Bishop and Payne's visit to South Korea this week during which they met their counterparts and visited the truce-village of Panmunjom.

Panmunjom is located within the tense demilitarised zone (DMZ), a four-kilometer-wide (2.5 miles) strip that separates the two Koreas, which have technically been at war for more than 65 years.

During the visit, the Australian Ministers stressed the need for diplomatic pressure to thwart North Korea's nuclear ambitions and urged the country not to carry out any more weapons tests and halt its nuclear and missile programmes.

"Should Australia continue to follow the US in imposing military, economic and diplomatic pressure upon the North despite our repeated warnings, they will not be able to avoid a disaster," KCNA warned.

The visit by the Australian Ministers, one of the US' main strategic allies in the Asia-Pacific, came at a time tensions were high between the North Korean regime and US President Donald Trump.