North Korea's foreign ministry said Saturday it will take "tougher countermeasures" against the United States for an annual report in which the communist country's human rights situation was called one of the worst in the world.
On Thursday, the U.S. State Department said in its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2014 that the record for the isolated communist nation "remained among the worst in the world" last year with public executions, political prison camps, torture and other abuses.
"The U.S. is dreaming a foolish dream that any 'change' would take place in the DPRK," a ministry representative said in a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News
Agency (KCNA). DPRK is the acronym of the communist country's official name: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"Now that the U.S. persists in the hostile policy toward the DPRK, it will take tougher countermeasures," the KCNA commentary said.
The North's foreign ministry also accused the report of being a "sinister attempt" to bring down its regime under the pretext of protecting human rights.
Pyongyang has long been seen as one of the worst human rights violators, as it does not tolerate dissent, holds hundreds of thousands of people in prison camps and keeps its people isolated from outside information.
The communist country, however, has often accused such criticism as a U.S.-led attempt to topple its regime.
Earlier on Wednesday, North Korea's foreign ministry also threatened to take actions against the opening of a U.S. human rights office in Seoul, calling the move a "hideous politically motivated provocation challenging the dignity and social system" of the communist nation. (Yonhap)
