Sri Lanka, Jan. 12 -- North Korea condemned on Monday (Jan 12) what it called "shameless" moves by the United States that it said undermined the United Nations and accused Washington of a "hideous criminal act".

Pyongyang's mission to the United Nations in New York blasted reported plans for a briefing on its alleged violations of sanctions, in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

Instead, it said, "what should be questioned and openly discussed in the UN as the most important pending issue is the hideous criminal act of the US".

"The US despises the existence of the UN itself," Pyongyang said.

Pyongyang's envoys did not specify the act in question, but the statement comes just over a week after the United ...