North Korea's state media blasted Japan on Monday for clinging to sanctions and pressure on Pyongyang, saying that Tokyo is ignorant of change underway on the Korean Peninsula and actions the North has taken for peace and prosperity.

In a commentary, the Korean Central News Agency urged Japan to stop talking "rubbish" arguing that the time is not right for the international community to apply sanctions exemptions on North Korea. 

"Shortly ago, Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations (Koro) Bessho talked rubbish that the time is not yet ripe to apply an exception to the resolution of sanctions on North Korea and he would appeal to various countries to strictly implement the sanctions resolution in contact with the U.S.," the KCNA said.

"It seems that Japan has not yet been awakened from its year-long daydream about sanctions and pressure. The rubbish let out by Bessho only proves that he is ignorant of what is going on now," it added.

It referred to what the Japanese diplomat said during a press conference in New York late in November during which he said it is premature to countenance sanctions exemptions at a time when denuclearization talks remain in a stalemate. He apparently appealed to Russia and China not to ease sanctions on Pyongyang.

The KCNA called Japan a "political dwarf" that "dares to challenge the strong trend of peace and stability in the region." It also urged Japan to "control its tongue" and realize "where it is standing in the international arena," while warning of global isolation.

"If Japan persistently goes against the trend of the times, it will never escape the fate of isolation in discussing the issues of the Korean Peninsula, the region and the world," it added. (Yonhap)