China has arrested an American Christian aid worker based near its border with North Korea, his lawyer said Saturday, as authorities deepen an apparent crackdown on religious groups in the region.

Peter Hahn, a North Korean-born naturalized U.S. citizen, was formally arrested on Friday on charges of embezzlement and counterfeiting receipts, his attorney Zhang Peihong said.

North Korea said Friday it will not send a representative to a U.N. Security Council meeting next week to discuss the country's human rights record and calls to refer Pyongyang to the International Criminal Court.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday warned North Korea it would face retaliation over a cyber attack on Sony Pictures and pledged not to bow to dictators, as an envoy for Pyongyang denied involvement.

President Vladimir Putin has invited North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un for celebrations next year to mark the 70th anniversary of victory in World War II, Russian news agencies said Friday, citing his spokesman.

"Yes. Such an invitation was sent," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS news agency.

China on Friday criticized a call by the United Nations for North Korea to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague over its human rights record.

"It is our long-standing position that countries should engage in constructive dialogue and negotiations to deal with differences on human rights, and we oppose politicizing or using the issue of human rights to put pressure on other countries," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a regular briefing.

South Korea's nascent far-left political party was disbanded Friday in a rare decision by the constitutional court which condemned it as a pro-North Korean group.

In an 8-1 decision, judges endorsed the government's petition to disband the Unified Progressive Party (UPP) and ordered the forfeiture of all of its five seats in parliament.

The U.N. General Assembly on Thursday called for North Korea to be referred to the International Criminal Court over its dismal rights record, in a landmark resolution adopted by a strong majority.

U.S. cinemas canceled screenings, including a red-carpet New York premiere, of a madcap comedy that offended North Korea, after mysterious computer hackers issued a chilling threat.

Hollywood studio Sony Pictures said it is not pulling the film, but is leaving it to theater chains to decide whether to show the movie, which depicts a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on Wednesday led tens of thousands of military and party officials in a ceremony to mark the end of three years of mourning for former supremo Kim Jong-Il.

Clad in a black winter coat and a black fur hat, the young leader stood stony-faced as he listened to speeches idolising his late father, who ruled the secretive communist nation for 17 years before his death in 2011.

North Korea has accused the U.S. of trying to topple the hermit state by targeting it with allegations of human rights abuses, and threatened to hit back with the "toughest-ever counteraction". 

The comments in state media Monday came as the U.N. Security Council is due to meet next week to discuss North Korea's rights record, amid calls for Pyongyang to be referred to the international court for crimes against humanity.