Pyongyang, April 3 (KCNA) -- The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea released the following press statement Sunday:

On April 1, a so-called "human rights resolution" against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) was railroaded through the 49th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK rejects outright the "human rights resolution"-a product of illegal and inhuman hostile policy of the U.S. against the DPRK- condemning it bitterly as a grave infringement upon the sovereignty of our state and a political provocation against it.

As the fair and impartial international society recognize, the anti-DPRK “human rights resolution” put forward by the U.S. and the Western countries every year does not bear any relation to genuine human rights, and it is no more than a highly politicized means of hostility to tarnish the dignified image of the DPRK and to deny the genuine rights and interests of the Korean people.

Rights and interests of the people are given a top priority and regarded as absolute, and the most genuine human rights fully conforming with the ideals and demands of the popular masses are being enjoyed in the DPRK where people-first politics has been applied in the state activities and the overall social life.

All kinds of social evils and acts of institutional human rights violations such as racial discrimination, national chauvinism, violence against women, violation of children's rights, police violence and gun-related crime are rampant in the U.S. and the Western countries. But they wish to pose as “human rights judges”! It is really the height of deception, hypocrisy, shamelessness and double standard.

We express serious concern over the fact that UNHRC is now being reduced to a tool of the U.S. and the Western countries for gaining their unjust political ends, oblivious of its inherent mission to reject politicization, selectivity and double standard in the issue of human rights and to contribute to the worldwide protection and promotion of human rights through dialogue and cooperation based on the principles of impartiality and objectivity.

It is natural for the international society to keep a close watch on and flatly oppose and refute the grave development where the human rights issue is misused as an excuse and a guide to infringe upon the sovereignty and interfere in the internal affairs, for an armed invasion and to seek regime change in other countries, falling prey to ulterior political purpose of the U.S. and the Western countries.

Human rights are national sovereignty.

The DPRK will show zero tolerance for hostile acts by the U.S. and its followers, and it will do its level best to safeguard our socialist system and the genuine people’s rights which our people value as their life. -0-

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