North Korea Tells EU to 'Mind Its Own Business' Over UN Rights Resolution

North Korea has a message for Brussels: look in the mirror. Responding to the European Union's draft United Nations resolution on human rights in the country, Pyongyang's UN mission told the bloc to 'mind its own business,' according to state media on Thursday.

The statement, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, dismissed the EU's move as a 'farce' and a 'politically motivated provocation.' It accused the draft of 'flagrantly distorting' North Korea's human rights policy and insisted that human rights are not 'a monopoly of the West.'

Pyongyang pointed a finger straight back at Europe, citing street protests across the continent. 'Streets are filled with demonstrators from all walks of life demanding such elementary rights as the rights to existence,' the mission said, adding that the EU should stop 'hyping up the non-existent human rights issues.'

The backdrop is long-running. The UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution condemning North Korea's human rights violations every year since 2005, and the UN and rights advocates have for years accused Pyongyang of widespread abuses.

This year's draft has a notable co-sponsor. According to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, Seoul has decided to back the EU-proposed resolution — the fifth consecutive year it has done so, after a gap from 2019 to 2021 under the liberal Moon Jae-in government.

Next stop is the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, which is expected to adopt the draft text later this month. From there it goes to the full General Assembly for final approval.