Seoul hails adoption of U.N. resolution on NK human rights
By KH디지털2Published : Dec. 19, 2014 - 09:30
South Korea's foreign ministry welcomed on Friday the passage of a United Nations resolution on North Korea's dismal human rights conditions at the world body's plenary session, calling for the North to take concrete action to improve its situation.
The U.N. General Assembly passed the resolution calling for the referral of Pyongyang's alleged human rights violations to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday by a vote of 116 to 20. Fifty-three countries abstained.
Last month, a U.N. committee passed the landmark resolution, drafted by the European Union and co-sponsored by a record 60 nations.
"The adoption of the resolution reflects the strong willingness by the U.N. and the international community to deal with North Korea's serious human rights situation," Noh Kwang-il, a spokesman at Seoul's foreign ministry, said in a statement.
"The South Korean government repeatedly urges North Korea to take concrete and effective actions to improve its human rights situation," he added.
The move came after the U.N. Commission of Inquiry (COI) published a report in February that accused Pyongyang of "systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights." The COI recommended that the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) refer Pyongyang's "crimes against humanity" to the ICC.
In a related move, the UNSC is set to discuss whether to put the North Korean human right issue on its agenda on Monday, a Seoul official said.
Once the issue is put on the agenda, it can be raised at any time by the UNSC for at least three years, the official said, asking not to be named.
But the chances of the North's referral to the ICC are slim as China and Russia, permanent members of the body, are sure to exercise their veto powers against it. The North's referral is only possible with the endorsement of the UNSC.
Beset by the U.N. move, North Korea has threatened to conduct another nuclear test. The North conducted previous tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013.
North Korea has long been labeled as one of the worst human rights violators in the world. But Pyongyang has bristled at such criticism, calling it a U.S.-led attempt to topple its regime. (Yonhap)