North Korea lambastes 'human rights clown show' after U.N. resolution

March 24 (UPI) -- North Korea denounced the adoption of a human rights resolution by the United Nations Human Rights Council after the United States, Japan and the European Union co-sponsored the motion Tuesday.

North Korean Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva Han Tae Song said he rejected the rights resolution that has "nothing to do with the real advancement and protection of human rights," South Korean newspaper Herald Business reported Wednesday.

Han, a former envoy to Italy, Greece and Spain, also condemned the European Union's "hostile policy" of "human rights sanctions."

The U.N. human rights resolution "violates the sovereignty of our country" and North Korea "strongly condemns" the motion for its "impure political provocation," Han said.

"It is important to keep in mind that the EU's ignoring our repeated warnings and continuing to cling to the futile anti-state human rights commotion will result in unimaginable and disastrous consequences," the North Korean diplomat said.

Han also suggested Europe was taking its cues from the United States, which rejoined the Human Rights Council in February.

"The EU's human rights clown show is remarkably reminiscent of someone else's copy," the ambassador said.

"In such a scenario, why not call it the 'EU United States Federation?'" Han asked rhetorically.

The resolution condemning Pyongyang's rights abuses was adopted for the 19th consecutive year Tuesday.

South Korea participated in the adoption process by consensus, but did not co-sponsor the resolution.

Seoul's foreign ministry said its "unchanged" position came after a "comprehensive consideration of various situations," Yonhap reported Wednesday.

The "situations" refer to a "number of factors," including a government goal to "establish a permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula, and the special circumstances of inter-Korean relations," the ministry said.

South Korea has co-sponsored the resolution since 2009, but beginning in 2019, has refrained from participation amid a diplomatic phase with the North.