North Korea has blasted the new UN special rapporteur for North Korean human rights, Elizabeth Salmón, over her meetings with South Korean civic groups for North Korean human rights.

In an interview with the North's official Korean Central News Agency, a foreign ministry spokesperson called the newly appointed rapporteur a “puppet of the United States" whose thoughtless remarks violate the North’s sovereignty.

The spokesperson said Salmón was surrounded by human scum who committed crimes against humanity by dropping anti-regime materials into the country to spread the “malignant virus” in the North, perpetuating Pyongyang’s assertion that leaflets sent by defectors in the South brought COVID-19 to the reclusive state.

Criticism was then directed toward the U.S., with the spokesperson claiming that it was behind Salmón’s appointment while denouncing the U.S. State Department’s support for Seoul's appointment of a human rights envoy for North Korea.

The spokesperson said that North Korea will never accept attempts by the U.S. and its followers to overthrow the regime.