SEOUL: North Korea on Monday lashed out at US President Barack Obama's meeting with Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama calling it interference in China's internal affairs.

The Dalai Lama, who is branded a separatist by China, was in Washington from July 5 to 16 for meetings with US political leaders that included Obama, drawing condemnation from Beijing.

Obama welcomed the Dalai Lama to his residence, urging respect for human rights and cultural traditions in Tibet. China said it undermined relations between the world's two largest economies.

“The US has been continuing its anti-China scheme, interfering with China's internal affairs by inviting the Dalai Lama and inciting Tibetan independence,” Rodong Sinmun, the North's ruling-party newspaper, said in an editorial.

Such an act is breeding “discord” between China and the United States, it said.

China is the North's sole major ally and provides a crucial prop for its ailing economy.

The newspaper also accused the Nobel Peace Prize laureate of trying to raise his personal profile and to win support for his so-called separatist movement by negotiating with senior US politicians.