The North's comments raised the political temperature ahead of Friday's meeting of Asia's top security forum, which both Rice and North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-Sun will be attending.

"This is a example of the totally unacceptable and unprofessional types of comments we see from DPRK state-run media," Hill said, using North Korea's official name.

"I think it's really something the DPRK should think about when they do this kind of thing. It really does not reflect any credit on them or on the seriousness with which they would like to be taken by the other countries as well."

North Korea made the comments Monday as it defended its recent missile launches, which had prompted Rice to say that it was a "completely irresponsible" and "dangerous" state.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency accused Rice of distorting the facts.

"Obviously, Rice made such an outcry in a bid to justify the US hostile policy to pressurize the DPRK with the ministerial meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum at hand and draw regional countries into its pressure campaign," it said.

"Her remarks are nothing but a sheer distortion of the reality which can convince no one."

The news agency said the North was under threat of attack from "the worst gangsters in the world" after the Bush administration listed it as part of an "axis of evil."

"It was none other than Rice who let loose a spate of such piffle over the launch of a few missiles as part of military training to cope with the US reckless moves for aggression and war," KCNA said.

"This cannot be construed otherwise than an outburst made by a political imbecile."

The comments continued a long tradition of name-calling from the North. In 2003 it described John Bolton, then the top US anti-proliferation official, as "human scum" for criticizing the regime of Kim Jong-Il.

Later the same year it said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who branded North Korea an "evil regime," as a "human butcher" who put Hitler in the shade.

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