A North Korean flag flies over the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in this March 20, 2021 file photo. EPA-Yonhap

North Korea on Wednesday denounced upcoming visits to Seoul by top U.S. officials, branding them as a "field inspection" by "warmongers."

The North's criticism came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to arrive here later in the day for talks on North Korea, the alliance and regional issues, amid growing concerns over the North's closer military ties with Russia.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is set to visit Seoul next week for annual bilateral defense ministerial talks and attend an inaugural defense ministerial meeting, involving the member states of the United Nations Command, a U.S.-led multinational force established to support South Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War.

"This provocative act reminds one of the visits of the warmongers for field inspection to ignite the second Korean war," Kim Myong-chol, an international affairs critic, said in an English-language commentary carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

The commentator claimed that the upcoming visits by "uninvited guests," in an apparent reference to Blinken and Austin, will bring about a "new war cloud" in the Asia-Pacific region.

"Whether or not a new geopolitical crisis hastening the end of the U.S. will be created in the Asia-Pacific region entirely depends on the U.S. behavior," Kim said. (Yonhap)