Pyongyang on Friday accused the newly appointed UN special rapporteur on North Korea’s human rights of being a “US puppet” and making “unforgivable inconsiderate remarks”.
The allegations came as the new correspondent, Elizabeth Salmon, was visiting Seoul on her first trip since being tapped into the role last month.
Salmon, a Peruvian international law professor, arrived earlier this week and met with South Korean officials and members of civil society groups, including northern female defectors, to discuss the situation in the isolated, nuclear-armed country.
“We had already made our principled position clear that we would neither recognize nor deal with a ‘special rapporteur’ who is just a US puppet,” an unnamed spokesman for North Korea’s foreign ministry said in an English statement obtained by the US official Korean headquarters was transmitted news agency (KCNA).
The spokesman said the rapporteur’s activities were a cover for an American hate campaign and accused Salmon of daring to make “unforgivable inconsiderate remarks that encroach on our untouchable system and our sovereign rights.”
“The United Nations should no longer allow its name and mission to be misused for US hostile policy towards the DPRK,” the spokesman added, using the acronym for North Korea’s official name.
The statement referred to Salmon as “he” in an apparent error of her gender.
Salmon said in a statement released on Friday that she was “fully aware that the DPRK government opposes country-specific human rights mandates, including my mandate.”
“However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try,” she said, adding that she hopes Pyongyang will reconsider and work with her.
“We should not give up our commitment to the DPRK because the life of the North Korean people and their human rights are at stake,” she added.
The UN established the Special Rapporteur on North Korea’s human rights in 2004 as international concerns grew over allegations of serious violations in the withdrawn state.
None of the special envoys were granted access to the country for a reconnaissance mission.
