South Korea and the United States are moving to put North Korea’s dismal human rights conditions on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council within this year in a bid to continue U.N. discussions on the issue and turn up the heat on Pyongyang, government sources said Tuesday.

North Korea’s human rights situation has been in the spotlight as a U.N. General Assembly committee last month passed a resolution calling for the referral of the country’s human rights violations to the International Criminal Court.

The move came after a U.N. Commission of Inquiry published a report in February that accused Pyongyang of “systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights.” The COI recommended that the Security Council refer Pyongyang’s “crimes against humanity” to the ICC.

Sources said that Seoul and like-minded countries agree on putting the issue on the agenda for the Security Council as early as possible in a bid to keep pressure on Pyongyang.

“Putting the issue on the table can help keep alive momentum for global attention to the North’s human rights violations,” an official said, asking not to be named.

Seoul’s move comes as an expected change in the composition of the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council could hamper efforts to put Pyongyang’s human rights issue on the table next year.

The veto wielded by the five permanent members doesn’t apply to the selection of agenda items so that nine votes out of 15 are sufficient to raise the issue.

Half of the 10 non-permanent members including South Korea will see their two-year terms finish at the end of this year, according to the U.N website. All five non-permanent members voted for the U.N. resolution.

Only two out of the next five would-be non-permanent members ― Spain and New Zealand ― voted for the General Assembly resolution on the human rights issue. Malaysia and Angola abstained while Venezuela opposed it.

The outlook for actual approval at the Security Council is not bright as China and Russia, permanent members of the body, are opposed to passing country-specific resolutions. The referral of North Korea to the ICC is only possible with the endorsement of the Security Council.

Meanwhile, President Park Geun-hye called on North Korea on Tuesday to address its dismal human rights record as she proposed a series of projects meant to lay the groundwork for potential unification with North Korea.

“The issue of North Korea‘s human rights must be improved to not only protect the universal values of mankind but for the future of a unified Korea,” Park said in a meeting of a blue-ribbon committee established to make preparations for reunification.

Park also expressed confidence that the two Koreas can improve their relations if South Korea makes consistent efforts to induce positive changes in North Korea.

Park called on the presidential committee on reunification to boost civic exchange and cooperation between the two Koreas.

She also proposed that the two Koreas can cooperate in forestation and exchange seeds.

North Korea has destroyed forests about 18 times the size of Manhattan for more than 10 years, according to data from Global Forest Watch, which is run by the Washington-based World Resources Institute. (Yonhap)