The Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Monday accused the United States of using humanitarian aid as a political tool for interfering in other countries' internal affairs and manipulating human rights topics, according to a report by Yonhap News Agency.

"In actual practice, many countries have undergone bitter tastes as a result of pinning much hope on the American 'aid' and 'humanitarian assistance,'" Kang Hyon Chol, a senior researcher at the Association for the Promotion of International Economic and Technological Exchange, said in an article published on the website of the ministry.

"This vividly reveals that the American ulterior intention of linking 'humanitarian assistance' with 'human rights issue' is to legitimize their pressure on the sovereign states and achieve their sinister political scheme," Kang added.

As the world faces severe economic difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. is attempting to abuse the suffering and pain for "sinister political purposes," he said.

In May, it was reported that the U.S. may consider sharing COVID-19 vaccines with the DPRK if requested by Pyongyang.

The DPRK has been expected to receive nearly two million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine under the global COVAX distribution program. But a state-run think tank of South Korea said on Friday that the DPRK had rejected AstraZeneca's vaccine.

"As North Korea (the DPRK) has rejected the vaccines planned to be supplied through COVAX due to worries over side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine, it has explored possibilities of securing alternatives drugs," the Institute for National Security Strategy said in a report.