North Korean media said Saturday what it called a sinister military plot between South Korea and the U.S. may harm improving inter-Korean ties. 

The North’s ruling Workers’ Party newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, said in a commentary that South Korea must realize this “foolish act.”

The article criticized the two-plus-two Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group talks held last week between Seoul and Washington, in which the allies agreed to maintain U.S. defense assets around the Korean Peninsula.

The newspaper claimed the meeting was a scheme to stifle North Korea. 

It accused the U.S. of trying to pour cold water on the mood for dialogue between the two Koreas, which it claimed was being fostered by the North’s initiative and sincere efforts. 

In Washington last week, South Korea and the U.S. held a high-level meeting of foreign and defense officials and agreed to continue the rotational deployment of strategic assets around the peninsula as long as North Korea's nuclear and missile threats continued.