North Korea has lashed out at former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, calling him a 'rabid dog' that 'must be beaten to death with a stick'.

It is unclear what exactly provoked the personal attack on Biden on Friday, but the Democrat and 2020 Presidential hopeful has been critical of President Trump's summitry with Kim Jong-Un in the past.

Misspelling Biden's name, the state's KCNA news agency said the former vice president was showing signs of 'the final stage of dementia', and the 'time has come for him to depart his life'.

In a commentary, it said, 'Such a guy had the temerity to dare slander the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK,' using the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

North Korea has lashed out at former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (pictured addressing the Santa Clarita high school shooting yesterday), calling him a 'rabid dog' that 'must be beaten to death with a stick'

North Korean leader Kom Jong-Un. The criticism was just the latest swipe by the DPRK against foreign and political leaders it sees as hostile to the North's leadership

North Korean leader Kom Jong-Un. It is unclear what exactly provoked the personal attack on Biden, but the Democrat and 2020 Presidential hopeful has been critical of President Trump's summitry with Kim Jong-un in the past

'It was the last-ditch efforts of the rabid dog expediting his death,' KCNA said. 'Rabid dogs like Baiden [sic] can hurt lots of people if they are allowed to run about. They must be beaten to death with a stick, before it is too late.'

The attack was just the latest swipe by the DPRK against foreign and political leaders it sees as hostile to the North's leadership.

At a campaign rally in Philadelphia in May, Biden accused Trump of 'embracing dictators and tyrants like Putin and Kim Jong-un'.

In contrast, the state has credited a 'close personal relationship' between Kim and Trump for saving ties between their countries from a destructive pattern of hostility.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un inspects Yangdok Hot Spring Resort in this undated photo released by KCNA on Thursday

The leaders have met three times to discuss improving ties and ending the North's nuclear weapons program.

Trump backed a previous personal attack on Biden by North Korea, after the DPRK called the presidential candidate 'a low IQ idiot' and saying his 'candidacy should not carry high expectations.'

Trump dismissed criticism that he was siding with a foreign dictator over a fellow American.

Biden has previously accused Trump of cozying up to 'dictators and tyrants' and has been highly critical of his summitry with Kim, calling the meetings 'three made-for-TV summits.'

US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un shake hands at the border village of Panmunjom in South Korea's Demilitarized Zone on June 30

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency speculated that North Korea by insulting Biden was trying to appeal to Trump, who has continued to describe his personal relationship with Kim as good despite a stalemate in nuclear negotiations over disagreements in exchanging sanctions relief and disarmament steps.

Biden, especially at campaign fundraisers, laments Trump's embrace of authoritarian foreign leaders. He has specifically named Kim and Russia's Vladimir Putin, calling the pair 'thugs' and sometimes detailing Kim´s human rights abuses and attacks against dissenters.

'It's becoming more and more obvious that repugnant dictators, as well as those who admire and 'love' them, find Joe Biden threatening,' said Andrew Bates, a Biden campaign spokesman. 'That's because he'd restore American leadership in the world on day one by putting our security, interests and values at the heart of our foreign policy.'

Even while North Korea has praised Trump, it criticized members of his administration seen as holding a hard line against North Korea, such as former national security adviser John Bolton.

Last week, it called Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe an 'idiot and villain' after he criticized a North Korean weapons test.