UN Adopts North Korean Human Rights Resolution for 17 Consecutive Years... Korea absent

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UN resolution on human rights in North Korea passed the Human Rights Committee for 17 consecutive years. This year's resolution also included concerns about human rights violations by ROK POWs for the first time, and the Korean government has not participated in the joint proposal for the third year in a row.

Correspondent Kim Jong-won from New York.

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resolution on human rights in North Korea that criticizes North Korea's human rights violations and calls for improvement was passed today (18th) by the UN Commission on Human Rights.

The resolution on human rights in North Korea is expected to be adopted at the plenary session of the UN General Assembly next month for 17 consecutive years.

This resolution was passed by the committee in the so-called consensus method, which applies when no country has requested a vote.

[Sim Farah/United Nations General Assembly US Representative: I am proud that the United States has jointly proposed the North Korean human rights resolution. The human rights and humanitarian situation in North Korea is still serious.]

This year, for the first time, concerns about human rights violations of ROK POWs and their descendants were included in the resolution.

It also included calls for cooperation in the joint purchase and distribution of coronavirus vaccines.

35 countries, including the European Union and Japan, were listed as co-sponsors of this resolution, but Korea did not participate for the third year in a row.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea said, however, that it participated in the adoption of a consensus on all resolutions in order to work together with the international community to improve human rights in North Korea.

North Korea resolutely rejected the UN resolution, saying it was a political maneuver unrelated to human rights, and immediately protested.

[Kim Seong / North Korean Ambassador to the United Nations: (Adoption of the North Korean human rights resolution) is not only an intolerable violation of its sovereignty, but also an attempt to imprison North Korea in the name of human rights.]

Meanwhile, the United States annually designates a list of countries of special concern for religious freedom. included North Korea for 20 consecutive years.