DPRK releases human rights report

PYONGYANG - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has released a human rights report on its own by the DPRK Association for Human Rights Studies, in a move to frustrate anti-DPRK human rights campaigns, said the official KCNA news agency on Saturday.

"It (the report) reflects the characteristics of the socialist system of the DPRK, its human rights policy and actual human rights performance," the KCNA quoted a spokesman for the association as saying.

The report, composed in collaboration with domestic institutions, non-governmental organizations, experts and the citizens, was issued to help the outside to better understand the DPRK's human rights policy and smash anti-DPRK human rights campaigns by hostile forces, said the KCNA.

"What the DPRK has opposed is the human rights dialog which was used by some states as a means to realize their vicious political purposes such as interference in others' internal affairs and act to topple governments," it said.

The report also clarifies the DPRK's stances on international cooperation for the protection and promotion of human rights.

On Aug. 18, DPRK Foreign Minister spokesperson rejected U.S. State Secretary John Kerry's remarks on its human rights situation during a speech in Hawaii, saying the country will not tolerate any attempt to subvert its social system by using human rights as an excuse.

In a report released in February, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK raised widespread concerns over abuses of human rights in the country.

The DPRK rejected the report and said in early August that it would soon issue a report of human rights to show a true picture of living conditions of the DPRK people.