N. Korea threatens US envoy for NK human rights with insulting remarks

U.S. Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues Julie Turner speaks to media at the U.S. embassy in Tokyo, Japan, Feb. 14. Reuters-Yonhap

North Korea on Thursday released a barrage of harsh-worded insults against the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights who is visiting Asia on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of a landmark U.N. report on the North's rights abuses.

The U.S. State Department earlier said Ambassador Julie Turner would visit South Korea and Japan from Monday through Feb. 22. Her visit came on the 10th anniversary of the release of the 2014 U.N. Commission of Inquiry (COI) report on the North's human rights violations.

The North's Korea Association for Human Rights Studies said Turner has "proved to be number one in implementing the current U.S. administration's illegal policy hostile" against the North and has become the "first target" of the country's will to take the "toughest counteraction" against the U.S.

The North derided that former U.S. human rights envoys resigned without "any success or achievement," and vowed "merciless punishment" against Turner whom it called a "human rights strangler" and "apostle of aggression."

North Korea has long been accused of grave human rights abuses, ranging from holding political prisoners in concentration camps to committing torture and carrying out public executions.

The COI report, issued in 2014, specifically held the North Korean regime responsible for "widespread, systematic and gross" violations of human rights.

Still, North Korea claims its people are freely enjoying genuine human rights. (Yonhap)