NKorea rejects UN rights resolution

North Korea on Saturday rejected a recent U.N. resolution condemning its human rights abuses as a U.S.-led political plot, warning the U.S., the European Union and Japan of "unpredictable consequences" for leading the move.

The North's Foreign Ministry issued the harsh warning, labeling the resolution — passed at the U.N. Human Rights Council on Thursday — as a "politically motivated document" that is "full of sheer lies and fabrications."

The North "sternly refutes the resolution," because it is a political plot hatched by the EU and Japan "at the prodding of the U.S.," the ministry said, according to the country's official Korean Central News Agency.

"The U.S., the EU and Japan will be held fully accountable for all the unpredictable consequences," KCNA said without elaborating on what those consequences would be.

The warning came a day after the North test-fired a barrage of short-range missiles in waters off its western coast in an apparent response to the new South Korean government's tougher stance on the communist country.

The South also voted in favor of the resolution, but the North's ministry made no mention of that.

South Korea's conservative new President Lee Myung-bak took office last month with a pledge not to remain silent on Pyongyang's human rights abuses. His liberal predecessors — Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun — had refrained from criticizing the North over concern it could endanger reconciliation with Pyongyang.

In the resolution, the U.N. council expressed deep concern about continuing reports of systematic violations in the North. The council decided to extend the appointment of a U.N. expert to investigate the country for another year.

North Korea has strongly bristled at any criticism of its human rights record, claiming that it was part of Washington's attempt to overthrow its regime and that human rights are fully guaranteed in the country.