(CNN) North Korea has warned the United States it "will be made to pay dearly" for any criticism of the country's human rights record, North Korean state news agency said Saturday.

The statement is just the latest in a slew of threats coming from North Korea. Earlier this month, a top North Korean official said the country will send a "Christmas gift" to the US, but what that present contains will depend on the outcome of ongoing talks between Washington and Pyongyang.

A US administration official told CNN Friday that North Korea may be preparing to test engines and other components of its missile program, but senior military commanders said that the US is ready for "whatever" Pyongyang might do.

On Saturday, the KCNA news agency said: "If the US dares to impair our system by taking issue over the 'human rights issue,' it will be made to pay dearly for such an act."

North Korea's Foreign Ministry Affairs spokesperson accused "Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor of the U.S. State Department" of making "reckless remarks against the DPRK" during an interview with Voice of America, according to the KCNA statement.