Pyongyang, Mar 24 (IANS): North Korea has condemned the European Union (EU) for including it in the targets of "human rights sanctions" under the pretext of "countering global human rights violations".

A report by the Korean Central News Agency released on Tuesday night quoted a foreign ministry spokesperson as saying that the EU performed "a farce of announcing the targets of sanctions" by pointing its finger at what it calls "human rights violations" in several countries, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.

A top EU body on Monday slapped sanctions on North Korea for allegedly torturing and killing people. The move marks the first time the EU has explicitly named North Korean officials for human rights-related crimes.

In addition to North Korea, the EU included individuals and entities from China, Libya, Eritrea, South Sudan and Russia in the sanction list.

"North Korea strongly denounces and categorically rejects this farce of 'human rights sanctions' by the EU, as it constitutes a part of the stereo-typed policy hostile to North Korea and a despicable political provocation aimed at infringing upon its sovereignty and interfering in its internal affairs," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also warned that the EU needs to bear in mind that if it persistently clings to the futile anti-North Korea "human rights" smear campaign in disregard of the country's repeated warnings, "it will inevitably be faced with unimaginable and miserable consequence".