PYONGYANG, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has condemned the European Union (EU) for including the DPRK in the targets of "human rights sanctions" under the pretext of "countering global human rights violations."
A report by the Korean Central News Agency released on Tuesday night quoted a foreign ministry spokesperson as saying that the EU performed "a farce of announcing the targets of sanctions" by pointing its finger at what it calls "human rights violations" in several countries.
A top EU body on Monday slapped sanctions on the DPRK for allegedly torturing and killing people. The move marks the first time the EU has explicitly named DPRK officials for human rights-related crimes. In addition to the DPRK, the EU included individuals and entities from China, Libya, Eritrea, South Sudan and Russia in the sanction list.
"The DPRK strongly denounces and categorically rejects this farce of 'human rights sanctions' by the EU, as it constitutes a part of the stereo-typed policy hostile to the DPRK and a despicable political provocation aimed at infringing upon its sovereignty and interfering in its internal affairs," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also warned that the EU needs to bear in mind that if it persistently clings to the futile anti-DPRK "human rights" smear campaign in disregard of the country's repeated warnings, "it will inevitably be faced with unimaginable and miserable consequence."
