Pyongyang has suggested that President Barack Obama ought to worry about moving out of the White House, not North Korea’s poor human rights record.
North Korea criticized the Obama administration’s decision to impose additional sanctions on North Korean leadership in a harsh Korean Central News Agency editorial Monday.
This is a “last-ditch efforts of those whose days are numbered,” KCNA argued.
The Department of State released a report on human rights violations in North Korea last Wednesday.
The North Korean government stands accused of engaging in “extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detention, forced labor, and torture,” the report revealed.
“Many of these abuses are committed in the country’s political prison camps, which hold an estimated 80,000 -120,000 prisoners, including children and family members of the accused,” the State Department continued.
The report further noted “the systemic and oppressive nature of the North Korean government’s censorship and information denial remains omnipresent.”
North Korea once again topped Human Rights Watch’s list of most repressive countries earlier in January.
Following the release of the State Department’s report, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control blacklisted seven North Korean officials, including Kim Jong-un’s little sister, and two organizations for their involvement in human rights violations.
The latest sanctions follow the footsteps of the U.S. decision to sanction Kim Jong-un, 10 senior officials, and five state agencies in July 2016, a move that also came after a State Department report.
“This is nothing but Washington’s last resort to tarnish the image of the DPRK,” KCNA said of the latest sanctions.
“Obama would be well advised not to waste time taking issue with other’s ‘human rights issue’ but make good arrangements for packing in the White House,” KCNA added.
Send tips to ryan@
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
