FILE PHOTO: A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Picture
December 21, 2019
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea criticized the United States for taking issue with its human rights record on Saturday, saying Washington’s “verbal abuse” would only aggravate the already tense situation on the Korean Peninsula, state news agency KCNA reported.
The KCNA statement, attributed to a foreign ministry spokesperson, warned that if the United States tried to take issue with the North’s system of government by citing human rights problems, it would “pay dearly”.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Stephen Coates)