North Korea blasts US and UK as ‘stranglers of human rights’ over Afghan exit despite funding nukes during famine

NORTH Korea has slammed the US and UK as “stranglers of human rights” in a shamelessly hypocritical attack.   

The regime’s foreign ministry claimed the two nations, as well as Australia, were “chief criminals” following their exit from Afghanistan last month.

The trio ended their occupation of the war-torn country after more than 20 years of conflict.

It included one of the biggest evacuation missions in history, that saw thousands of under threat civilians flown to locations across the world.

But this week, North Korea launched a scathingly attack, citing the three nations actions as “crimes against humanity” after leaving the Taliban controlled territory.  

They also claimed that other countries including China, Cuba, Iran and Venezuela – that feature on the UN’s list of the world’s 10 worst human rights abusers - were similarly outraged.

This comes as Kim Jong-un's rogue state is continuing to test nuclear missiles despite reportedly suffering another famine.

The regime's statement reads: “It is clearly shown that the US and the western countries, though they advocate ‘protection of human rights’, are the stranglers of human rights.

“They are mercilessly trampling upon even the right to life – the basic right of human rights – and [for] that they receive unanimous denunciation from international society.”

A second statement from the regime’s foreign ministry also accused the US of presiding over “complete pandemonium” in Afghanistan while dismissing criticism of its own human rights record.

It concluded: “There are no statutes of limitations for crimes against humanity and the criminals who have violated human rights would never evade the stern judgement of international society.”

'HYPOCRISY'

The statement was picked by Sung-Yoon Lee, a Korea analyst with the Fletcher School and Tufts University, who called it an “unassailable self-indictment”.

He said: “Kim Jong-un is the world's leading candidate for indictment for crimes against humanity.

“Hence, the foreign ministry's ‘no statute of limitations’ statement brims with irony.”

Dr Lee also reiterated just how absurd it was for North Korea to lambast others given their own record on human rights.

“It is, according to a landmark 2014 UN study, the world's worst violator of human rights,” he said.

“It is the only industrialized, literate, urbanised state in history to have undergone a famine.

“North Korea remains one of the least food secure nations in the world today. Why, when it has nukes and a literate, industrialised economy?

“Because the regime uses food both as a spear with which to extort international aid and as a shield to protect itself against criticism.”

“Hypocrisy never deterred a mass-murdering terrorist state,” he added.

Kim Jong-un currently stands accused of 10 internationally-recognised crimes against humanity amid countless reports of murders and other atrocities committed by the dictatorial regime.

It prompted three renowned international jurists, including Navi Pillay – a former UN high commissioner for human rights - to call for Kim Jong-un’s prosecution in a 2017 report.

The report was based on testimony from survivors of North Korea’s prison camps as they detailed the horror that met many of those who found themselves inside.

'CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY'

Last year, the state reportedly opened new prison camps for those breaching coronavirus rules with some dying just "a day after entering" their gates.

It's claimed multiple detainees dropped dead as a direct result of the extreme "cruelty" dished out by the brutal guards running the highly-secure compounds.

Reports claim many are feared to have collapsed after being forced to run non-stop inside the units - which are surrounded by razor-sharp barbed wire.

It revealed how citizens caught fleeing North Korea are being worked to death to feed Kim Jong-un and his henchmen.

A report laid bare the shocking claims about cruel labour camps where the inmates are enslaved.

Chilling satellite images were also said to show mass graves which fertilise soil for prized flowers.