North Korea on Sunday slammed U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for what it calls "reckless remarks" on the North's human rights and public livelihood issues.

In a spokesman's remark given to the official Korean Central News Agency, the North's foreign ministry urged Clinton to pay more attention to the issues of U.S. economic crisis and huge hordes of jobless people, instead of "imprudently" talking about the North's internal issues.

"U.S. authorities are imprudently talking about 'human rights record' in the DPRK (North Korea) and 'the issue of its people's living' these days whenever an opportunity presents itself. Typical of them is U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton," said the unidentified spokesman.

"It was the U.S. that has long antagonized and threatened the DPRK, compelling it to build defense capability to cope with it. It is, however, urging the DPRK to give priority to 'people's living.' This is a hypocritical act of causing illness and then administering medicine."

Referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as "young man" in a news conference in Washington last week, Clinton urged him to choose between continued dictatorship and a "transformative" leadership. 

The North Korean official went on to reiterate Pyongyang's determination to push ahead with nuclear program.

(Yonhap News)