North Korea calls U.S. designation 'worst human trafficking country' a 'slanderous and political provocation'

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Boram Yoon = On the 10th, North Korea protested against the U.S. government report that ranked the country's response to human trafficking at the lowest level, calling it a "vicious slander and political provocation."

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on this day, saying, "The United States' despicable and malicious attempt to politicize and weaponize human rights and use them as the basic means of its hostile policy towards North Korea has been clearly confirmed again," the Korean Central News Agency reported.

The spokesperson said, "It is a deceptive 'report' play by the United States that has nothing to do with guaranteeing true human rights," and disparaged it as "a concentrated expression of hostile policies that infringe on our country's sovereignty and internal affairs and harm the rights and interests of our citizens."

At the same time, he criticized, "It is nothing more than a false document to rationalize interference in the internal affairs of other countries and overthrow of their systems, and herein lies the moral and ethical vulgarity and problematic nature of the policy pursued by the United States."

The spokesperson asserted, "The essence of the United States' North Korea policy is to eradicate our people's inalienable right to life and development, and herein lies the main reason why we must concentrate more on building a strong force to defend our national sovereignty."

He went on to warn, "The United States' 'human rights' disturbance in North Korea, which seriously threatens the sovereign rights of the country and the rights and interests of citizens, will be a priority subject of the strongest response to the United States along with other hostile acts."

The U.S. State Department classified North Korea as level 3, the lowest level, in the '2026 Human Trafficking Report' published on the 8th (local time).

The U.S. State Department pointed out that North Korea had government policies and patterns against human trafficking in the process of forcing children as well as adults to work in political prison camps and labor camps, and imposing forced labor conditions on workers dispatched overseas.