UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations Security Council for the first time turned its attention to human rights in North Korea on Monday, as Pyongyang and Washington traded accusations over a hacking attack against a Hollywood studio, and North Korea’s already limited connection to the Internet went down completely.

North Korea chose not to speak at the Council briefing, which focused largely on a United Nations inquiry that had found widespread and systematic human rights abuses, including forced starvation, enslavement and rape. Instead, in a letter to the world body, North Korea described the Council briefing as the product of a “hostile policy pursued by the United States.” It went on to threaten the resumption of nuclear tests.

China, which is North Korea’s principal ally on the 15-member Council, sought to prevent the briefing, arguing that the Council had no business looking into one country’s human rights record. It lost that bid.

The Australian ambassador, Gary Quinlan, rebutted that claim by citing the hacking attack against the studio, Sony Pictures, which he said showed North Korea’s ability to “destabilize other countries and international commerce.” He was referring to a break-in of the computers at Sony in retaliation for its satirical film “The Interview,” about a fictitious plot to assassinate the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.