N Korea slams upcoming Seoul trips by top US officials

SEOUL, Nov 08 (AFP): North Korean state media on Wednesday slammed upcoming visits to Seoul by the United States' top diplomat and defence chief as "provocative" acts that would raise tensions in the region.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to arrive late Wednesday and will meet his South Korean counterpart Park Jin the following day to discuss issues including nuclear-armed North Korea.
His two-day trip will be followed by a visit by US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin to Seoul next week for minister-level meetings.
"Uninvited guests from across the ocean will seek the extreme confrontation on the Korean peninsula which is the biggest hotspot in the world and has reached the height of explosion," said a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency.
"This provocative act reminds one of the visits of the warmongers for field inspection to ignite the second Korean war," the commentary added. Blinken and Lloyd's visits will bring "new war clouds" to the region, it said.
The visit comes as Seoul and Washington ramp up defence cooperation in the face of a record-breaking series of weapons tests by Pyongyang this year.