North Korea held a mass rally in Pyongyang today to protest against a United Nations resolution condemning its human rights record.

Thousands of protesters in Kim Il-sung square carried banners praising their leaders and condemning the United States. Such mass rallies are organised by the government and are used to express its official line.

North Korea has denounced the UN resolution, which is the first to urge the Security Council to refer the issue to the International Criminal Court. That would open the possibility of its leader, Kim Jong-un, being targeted by prosecutors. The non-binding resolution is to come before the UN General Assembly in the coming weeks.

North Korea says the UN move is based on trumped-up allegations by defectors and backed by the United States and other countries seeking to overthrow its ruling regime.

State media KCNA have been producing articles critical of the human rights situation in the United States and threatening severe retaliation against any attempts to bring down its government.

The resolution followed a UN commission of inquiry report early this year that said North Korea’s human rights situation “exceeds all others in duration, intensity and horror.”