North Korea holds mass rally to oppose U.N. resolution condemning human rights abuses

PYONGYANG, North Korea, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- A mass rally was held in Pyongyang to voice opposition to a United Nations resolution condemning North Korea for human rights abuses.

According to the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency, about 100,000 people convened at Kim Il Sung Square on Tuesday. Participants were quoted as saying, "The move is designed to totally obliterate everything dear to the army and the people."

Demonstrators also reportedly blamed the United States for sponsoring last week's resolution and countered that America is a leading human rights abuser.

The nonbinding U.N. resolution was written by the European Union and Japan based on a damning U.N. Commission of Inquiry report issued in February. The report found North Korean leaders responsible for "widespread, systematic and gross" human rights violations and recommended that the International Criminal Court consider the allegations and evidence of "crimes against humanity."

The resolution was passed with a recommendation that North Korean officials be referred to the ICC, an amendment the North Korean delegation sought unsuccessfully to remove.

North Korea's representative to the U.N., Choe Myong Nam, has warned the North may undertake more nuclear weapons tests in response to the resolution.