State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert fired back at North Korea over its false claims of United States human rights abuses on Thursday, saying it was "very humorous and ironic" to hear.
A reporter asked Nauert about a report from the North Korean regime claiming human rights abuses in the U.S. The report also calls the Trump administration racist and filled with billionaires.
"Well, that's very humorous and ironic coming from a country that many of you, some of you from Korea, know very well, as I'm sure your families do, the history of North Korea and how it has treated its own people," Nauert said.
Nauert then referenced Ji Seong-ho, a North Korean defector who fled the country in 2006 and appeared at the State of the Union on Tuesday and was praised by President Donald Trump. Nauert also mentioned Otto Warmbier, a college student who was arrested in North Korea and was returned to the U.S. in a comatose condition, from which he died shortly after. Warmbier's parents were also recognized by Trump during his Tuesday speech.
"We saw a gentleman who appeared at the State of the Union address who was malnourished, who was a victim of the North Korean regime," Nauert said. "We've heard stories, certainly, very clear and hurtful and harmful stories about people who have not only been malnourished, we've heard stories about forced abortions, we've heard stories about people with worms in their stomach and of course, no one knows better than Americans themselves about the fate of Otto Warmbier."