Pyongyang blasted U.S. special envoy on North Korean human rights Julie Turner on Thursday, following her arrival in South Korea the previous day, in rhetoric that activists described as particularly harsh. 

In the statement released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), an unnamed spokesperson for the Korea Association for Human Rights Studies condemned Turner’s visit to Japan and South Korea, and her work with North Korean defectors, stating Turner “has become the first target of our arms leveled at the U.S. that fully represent our will to take the toughest counteraction against it.”