The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Sunday denounced South Korea for its "policy toward the north" as one destroying the inter-Korean relations and a product of ambition to stifle its compatriots in the north in collusion with the United States.
  The official Rodong Sinmun said in an article that Seoul is taking advantage of the U.S. sanctions and pressure against Pyongyang, which is in close collaboration with the United States in its "maximum pressure and engagement" policy toward the DPRK.
  It also charged that South Korea's policy of "simultaneously pushing ahead sanctions and pressure and dialogue" is "extremely contradictory and absurd sophism" and "an impudent act of deceiving the public opinion to cover up their confrontational nature."
  "In fact, the puppet authorities, crying out that the 'north's access to nuclear weapons can never be allowed,' are desperately cooperating in the U.S. moves to ignite a nuclear war against the north," it said.
  Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul remain tense since South Korean President Moon Jae-in took office earlier this year.
  The DPRK has condemned the series of U.S.-South Korean join military exercises as bringing the situation on the Korean Peninsula to a "touch-and-go" point.