North Korea accused the Trump Administration of being a billionairesâ club that harbors a âpolicy of racismâ while exacerbating social inequalities and denying freedom of the press and health coverage to citizens.
The âWhite Paper on Human Rights Violations in the U.S. in 2017,â issued by the Institute of International Studies in the Democratic Peopleâs Republic of Korea on Wednesday, claimed that human rights in the U.S. have deteriorated since President Donald Trump took office last year.
âRacial discrimination and misanthropy are serious maladies inherent to the social system of the U.S., and they have been aggravated since Trump took office,â the paper read. âThe racial violence that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12 is a typical example of the acme of the current administrationâs policy of racism.â
The paper, which is being circulated by North Korean diplomats in Geneva, did not refer to the row between North Korea and the U.S. and its allies over Pyongyangâs nuclear and missile programs, nor to the international sanctions imposed against it.
A summary of the paper was released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Wednesday.
The KCNA summary accused Trump of packing his cabinet with billionaires, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson; former private equity investor Wilbur Ross, who is now Secretary of Commerce; exâGoldman Sachs investor Steven Mnuchin, who is now Secretary of the Treasury; and Secretary of Defense James Mattis.
âThe total assets of public servants at the level of deputy secretary and above of the current administration are worth $14 billion,â the paper said.
The North Korean paper then said that genuine freedoms of the press and of expression did not exist in the United States, and that crackdowns against the media had intensified in the past year.
The report summary also argued that an âabsolute majority of the working masses, deprived of elementary rights to survival, are hovering in the abyss of nightmare,â citing unemployment statistics and homelessness as evidence.
Pyongyang released the White Paper shortly after Trump criticized North Korean human rights abuses during his State of the Union speech on Tuesday. During that speech, the president called Kim Jong Un âdepravedâ and told the world that North Koreaâs pursuit of nuclear missiles could âsoon threatenâ the U.S. mainland.