North Korea will "strongly react" to the U.S.' recent report accusing the communist country of tolerating no religious freedom, the country's foreign affairs ministry said Friday.
The 2014 International Religious Freedom Report issued by the U.S. State Department earlier in the week said, "Religious freedom does not exist in practice," accusing the North of dealing harshly with those involved in "almost any religious practices."
The report also said the North's leadership should be brought to the International Criminal Court for human rights abuses.
"All the service personnel and people of the DPRK fully determined to devotedly defend the headquarters of the revolution will strongly react against the persistent 'human rights' racket kicked up by the U.S. to bring down the social system of the DPRK," a unnamed official from North Korea's foreign affairs ministry told the (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the official full name of North Korea.
The communist country protested that the U.S. report "impairs the dignity and authority of the headquarters of the DPRK ... under the pretext of protecting human rights."
The U.S. move is designed to "topple the social systems" of North Korea, the country said, repeating its long tradition of refuting human rights abuse charges from the outside world.
"This is the height of hypocrisy," the country said of the State Department report.
(http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/)
