North Korea strongly opposes UN human rights report... Warning of ‘sovereignty infringement’

"Damage of dignity and system, considered infringement of sovereignty"... Threatened to "take due responsibility"

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kwon Soo-hyun = North Korea strongly protested against the 'Report on the human rights situation in North Korea' (hereinafter referred to as the report) published in the name of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, saying it "distorted and fabricated the reality of human rights in a sovereign country."

In a statement released through the Korean Central News Agency on the 3rd, a spokesperson for North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed, "United Nations Secretary-General Guterres submitted to the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly a 'human rights report' consistent with vicious accusations and scheming propaganda by hostile forces against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."

He said, "I express my disdain for the hostile forces who are distorting and fabricating the reality of human rights in sovereign countries and turning the sacred UN stage into an arena for malicious criticism and incitement, and I resolutely condemn and reject in the strongest terms the actions of the UN Secretary-General who is irresponsibly siding with them."

He then argued that the report was “a representative product of anti-Republican ‘human rights’ propaganda by hostile forces, including the United States,” and that “the content itself is scheming, the format is cliché, and the reason for its existence is illegal.”

The spokesperson criticized that the United Nations had degenerated into an unequal and undemocratic organization that represents the exclusive interests of certain countries or minority groups during the term of Secretary-General Guterres, whose term is soon to end. He protested, saying, "We will not allow the biased and provocative practice of politicizing human rights issues to be repeated during the next Secretary-General's term."

“For us, human rights are national rights and absolute sovereignty that cannot be transferred under any circumstances,” the spokesperson said. “Whoever he is, if he undermines the dignity and system of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and interferes with the interests of the people, this will be regarded as a serious violation of sovereignty and he will be held appropriately responsible.”

Secretary-General Guterres submitted the 'North Korea Human Rights Situation Report', which contains the results of a one-year investigation into the human rights situation in North Korea from June 1 last year to May 31 this year, to the 81st United Nations General Assembly held at the United Nations Headquarters in the United States.

In a report released the day before, President Guterres assessed that the human rights situation in North Korea continues to worsen, including the strengthening of surveillance and control of residents due to the expansion of the application of cutting-edge technology, and urged the investigation and punishment of perpetrators of human rights violations.

In addition, he expressed concern about arbitrary detention by naming Korean detainees Kim Jeong-wook, Choi Chun-gil, and Kim Guk-ki, who were mentioned in the report of the UN Arbitrary Detention Working Group, and Kim Cheol-ok, a North Korean defector who was forcibly repatriated to North Korea.