North Korea says it will not resume talks with the South until issues between the two countries are resolved.
Its chief negotiator dismissed the South Korean authorities as incompetent and senseless. Pyongyang is angry at continuing US-South Korea joint military exercises.
Planned talks between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have also been thrown into doubt.
South Korea has offered to act as a bridge between the two sides.
But that now looks less likely following North Korea’s statement.
Chief negotiator Ri Son-gwon reverted to the angry language the north has used before, in comments reported by KCNA.
He also criticised the South Korean authorities for allowing “human scum” (a reference to a North Korean defector) to speak at the Seoul National Assembly.
On Tuesday North Korea pulled out of a meeting with South Korea scheduled for the following day because of anger over the start of US-South Korea joint military drills.
It later released a statement saying it might pull out of the summit with the US if the Trump administration insisted it gave up its nuclear weapons unilaterally.
The highly anticipated meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Kim is due to take place in Singapore on 12 June.
Thursday’s criticism of South Korea marks yet another shift in tone from Pyongyang just weeks before the planned US summit, the BBC’s Laura Bicker in Seoul says.
Pyongyang appears to be putting pressure on both the US and South Korea and refusing to talk until some concessions are made, she adds.
Source: BBC
