We begin with North Korea's repeated demand to the UN Human Rights Council... to drop resolutions against the regime's alleged crimes against humanity.
The regime's foreign minister says... the core testimony in a UN human rights report was based on... lies of criminals.
Hwang Sung-hee reports on Pyongyang's address in Geneva.
North Korea's Foreign Minister tRi Su-yong used his platform to denounce a landmark UN report on Pyongyang's human rights abuses that was published last year.
Addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday, Ri called for the resolutions based on the report to be revoked immediately since the core testimonies have been proven to be false.
"The act of cooking up the report of the Commission of Inquiry based on lies of a few such criminals is itself a mistake, which is completely against the aspiration of the UN for civilization and the rule of law."
The recent backtracking by prominent defector Shin Dong-hyuk on the details of his life in a North Korean prison camp fueled the regime's attempts to discredit the entire UN report.
Ri said the world body should also look into the CIA's harsh treatment of terror suspects.
"The UN must put an end to its selectiveness on dealing with human rights issues by listing the U.S. brutality of torture as an urgent issue."
But North Korea's claims were met with strong calls by South Korea to immediately end its human rights violations.
"We call on the DPRK to immediately take concrete and sincere steps so that its people can carry on a normal, dignified life."
At a separate conference, the North Korean diplomat called the ongoing joint military drills between Washington and Seoul "a rehearsal for a nuclear war" against Pyongyang and threatened to launch a preemptive strike on the U.S. if necessary.
Hwang Sung-hee, Arirang News.
