North Korea on Wednesday denounced President Lee Jae Myung's remarks on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula made during his visit to the United States, saying he is a hypocrite seized by a "denuclearization paranoia."

Axar.az informs, citing Yonhap, the North's criticism came after Lee said during a speech in Washington that he and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed during their summit to work closely to "establish peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula."

North Korea denounced South Korea for harboring a vain hope for denuclearization, stressing the North will never give up its nuclear weapons.

"It is a daydream for the ROK, the one and only political poor in the world who has offered all its sovereignty to the U.S., to cherish an absurd hope for 'denuclearization,' unaware of the nature of the nuclear issue of the DPRK," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

"Lee Jae Myung should understand that if he continues to be engrossed in a wild dream about 'denuclearization' like a 'familial disease,' it will not be helpful to anyone, to say nothing of the ROK," the KCNA said.

North Korea defended the possession of nuclear weapons, claiming the North becoming a "nuclear weapons state" has been an inevitable choice to deter threats from its enemies and adapt to a change in the global security dynamics.

"We remain unchanged in our stand not to abandon the nuclear weapons, the prestige and the honor of the state," the North said.