Condemned at the UN for rights abuses, North Korea hit back Friday, describing the United States as a human rights "tundra" where racial discrimination flourishes.
Citing the protests that erupted
when a police officer was not charged in the shooting death of an
unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, a foreign ministry
spokesman heaped scorn on the notion of "rule of law" in the US.
"This
is clear proof of the real picture of the US as a tundra of human
rights, where extreme racial discrimination acts are openly practised,"
the spokesman was quoted as saying by the North's official KCNA news
agency.
His remarks came a
week after the UN adopted a landmark resolution urging the Security
Council to refer North Korea's leaders to the International Criminal
Court (ICC) for possible indictment on crimes against humanity.
The
resolution, drafted by Japan and the European Union, drew heavily on
the work of a UN inquiry, which concluded in February that the North was
committing rights abuses "without parallel in the contemporary world".
Pyongyang
has rejected the inquiry and condemned the resolution, saying both were
initiated and controlled by the US in a politically motivated effort to
humiliate the regime of leader Kim Jong-Un.
"The
great irony is that the US tries to measure other countries with its
wrong human rights standard, though it is a typical human rights
abuser," the foreign ministry spokesman said.
His
statement specifically criticised President Barack Obama for his
efforts to "justify" racial discrimination by talking about the rule of
law.
Although China and Russia
would block any Security Council move to refer Pyongyang to the ICC,
North Korea has been rattled by the adoption of the strongly-worded UN
resolution, and has threatened "catastrophic consequences" for its
supporters.
Earlier this week,
Kim Jong-Un toured a museum dedicated to alleged atrocities by US
forces during the 1950-53 Korean War, saying they were like "cannibals
seeking pleasure in slaughter."
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