North Korea on Tuesday called “despicable political provocation” and the consequence of “psychotic thinking” the sanctions imposed this week by the European Union on top Pyongyang officials for violating human rights .
The 27 members of the European Council announced sanctions against ten people and four legal entities present in six countries – including China, Russia and North Korea – for human rights violations .
This decision aroused the fury of Beijing and a diplomatic conflict between China, the North’s main support, and the member countries of the European Union.
A spokesman for the North Korean Foreign Ministry denounced the measures, calling them “disastrous political tools” triggered by “the EU’s” stubborn inconsistency coupled with a psychotic way of thinking. “
These sanctions are part of a hostile policy towards North Korea and constitute “a contemptible political provocation,” the spokesperson said in a statement entitled “the futile act will only result in dishonor and shame ”and published on Tuesday by the official KCNA news agency.
The people targeted by these European sanctions are the North Korean minister in charge of state security, Jong Kyong Thaek, the minister of public security, Ri Yong Gil, and the office of the central attorney general.
According to the official EU journal, they are responsible for “serious human rights violations”, ranging from torture and arbitrary executions to widespread forced labor and sexual violence against women.
North Korea, equipped with nuclear weapons, is also accused by the United Nations of “systematic, generalized and flagrant” violations of human rights, ranging from torture to extrajudicial killings.
Pyongyang rejects these accusations and says it protects and promotes “real human rights” and qualifies as anti-regime propaganda the accusations of human rights violations to which it is the subject by the international community.