▲ UN General Assembly plenary session to discuss North Korean human rights resolution


A resolution on human rights in North Korea to condemn North Korea's human rights violations and urge improvement was passed at the UN General Assembly for 16 consecutive years.



The UN General Assembly held a plenary session at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, USA, and adopted a North Korean human rights resolution condemning North Korea's systematic and widespread human rights violations without a vote.



The adoption of the North Korean human rights resolution by the United Nations began in 2005 and marks the 16th year this year.



This is the 7th time that North Korean human rights resolutions were adopted as consensus at the UN General Assembly, following 2012-2013 and 2016-2019.



The resolution, led by member states of the European Union (EU), mostly reflected the text of the existing resolution as it was, and added concerns about the humanitarian crisis arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.



First of all, the resolution pointed to North Korea's'torture, sexual violence and arbitrary detention','political prisoners' concentration camps','organized kidnapping', and'treatment of repatriated North Koreans'. "I condemn it."



The resolution also urged the UN Security Council to take appropriate measures, including referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the human rights situation in North Korea and "consider additional sanctions against the most responsible."



In particular, this year's resolution expresses very deep concern about the dangerous humanitarian situation in North Korea, which is likely to deteriorate rapidly due to limited ability to cope with health crises and natural disasters such as Corona 19. I was concerned about the possibility of an impact.



Regarding the situation on the Korean peninsula, a message was added to encourage diplomatic efforts, saying, "It emphasizes the importance of dialogue and involvement including inter-Korean dialogue.



It has also encouraged countries that maintain dialogue with North Korea to continue to support the establishment of permanent peace and security on the Korean Peninsula.



It also contains a phrase that emphasizes the urgency and importance of the separated family problem and urges the reunion to resume.



In addition to EU countries, 58 member states including Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada participated as joint proposals for this resolution.



Korea has not been listed as a co-proposer for the second year in a row since last year, but joined the consensus.



(Photo = United Nations Web TV capture, Yonhap News)