SEOUL—North Korea published a 50,000-word report on its human rights record that it said corrected recent "serious misunderstandings" that were raised in a damning United Nations assessment earlier this year.

The rebuttal, published Saturday, paints a rosy picture of the nation and asserts that North Korea's state sovereignty is the most important aspect of human rights.

North Korea's report says the "popular masses enjoy genuine human rights," have the right to not be subjected to torture and slavery, to freely practice religion and to stand for election.

The country has long been suspected of committing widespread human rights abuses. But the issue has gained an extra measure of prominence in recent months, after a special U.N. commission in February released a 400-page report alleging widespread human-rights violations in North Korea that it said would "shock the conscience of humanity."

The U.N. report described a country in which the government selectively starves portions of its population and maintains an elaborate network of prison camps to torture and enslave its citizens, where people are forced to worship the ruling Kim family and entire families can be punished for the perceived disloyalty of their ancestors.