North Korea on Friday rejected a recent U.N. decision to open a formal investigation into its alleged human rights violations, calling it "an act of political fraud."

In Geneva on Thursday, the U.N. Human Rights Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for the establishment of a three-member Commission of Inquiry on North Korean Human Rights for a one-year mission.

In a statement released through the state-run Korean Central News Agency, monitored in Seoul, Pyongyang's foreign ministry said it will "completely reject and ignore" the resolution.

The North also accused the U.S. and its allies of harboring "inherent hostility" toward Pyongyang and of trying to remove the ideology and system that the North Korean people have chosen.

The top North Korean envoy in Geneva, So Se-pyong, also told the U.N. meeting that his country can't accept the resolution, since it is politically motivated.

Passing the resolution was seen as a mostly symbolic and yet significant step in sending a message to North Korea, considered one of the worst violators of human rights.

(Yonhap News)