#North Korea slams Britain for sanctions aimed at prison camps

North Korea slammed Britain on Saturday for placing sanctions on two organizations British officials say are involved in North Korea’s grim prison labor camps.

The sanctions, placed on the Ministry of State Security Bureau 7 and Ministry of People’s Security Correctional Bureau, are among the first under the UK’s new global human rights regime, Reuters reported Saturday.

“Britain’s latest move is a flagrant political plot to jump on the bandwagon of the United States’ inimical policy,” a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement on state media KCNA.

“We strongly condemn and reject the UK’s daring to impose sanctions on the institutions responsible for our country’s security as violent interference in domestic affairs.”

The sanctions will take the form of asset freezing. North Korea’s prison camps are believed to involve forced labor, torture and murder.

Tensions between North Korea, South Korea and the United States have been rising as a result of an impasse over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and international sanctions imposed on Pyongyang.