Meari, one of the North's propaganda websites, carried similar criticism.

Adding to the pressure on Pyongyang, however, the US slapped fresh sanctions on the North on Monday, blacklisting top aides to the North's leader, including Choe Ryong-hae, vice chairman of the ruling Workers' Party, for their involvement in human rights abuses.

The sanctions freeze their property or interests within the US and ban their transactions with US citizens. But the action is expected to be largely symbolic as North Korea is already under heavy sanctions for its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

These measures came amid a deadlock in nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang. North Korea wants the US to ease sanctions in exchange for the denuclearization steps the regime has taken so far, but the US insists that sanctions relief is possible only after the North's complete denuclearization.

The North has claimed that the US taking issue with its human rights situation is a tactic to draw concessions in the stalled denuclearization talks. (Yonhap)