North Korea throws shade at “US puppet” human rights leader

North Korea is up to its hate-mongering tactics again. Today, the country called a United Nations special rapporteur on North Korean Human Rights a “puppet of the US.” An unnamed spokesman for the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an English statement on state-run media…

“We had already made clear our principled stand that we neither recognize nor deal with any ‘special rapporteur’ who is merely a puppet of the US.”

The special rapporteur, Elizabeth Salmon, has been in South Korea since last month. The North Korean spokesman accused Salmon of being “biased.” The Foreign Ministry repeated tropes it has stated in the past, that the US is biased and that UN investigations into North Korea’s human rights abuses are part of efforts “…aimed at overthrowing its social system.”

A notorious authoritarian dictatorship, North Korea is renowned for its human rights abuses. In 2020, Human Rights Watch described the country as one of the most repressive in the world. North Korea’s government punishes its critics with torture, starvation, sleep deprivation, and forced labour.

North Korea also has a reputation for its hatred of the outside world. In April this year, leader Kim Jong-un warned the world that North Korea is ready to use nuclear weapons against foreign powers at ‘any time’ if provoked.

SOURCE: Reuters | Human Rights Watch