A U.N. General Assembly committee is expected to hold a vote as early as next week on a proposed resolution calling for referring North Korea to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for human rights violations, a diplomatic source said Tuesday.

The source said, however, that there is also the possibility of U.N. member nations sympathetic to North Korea, such as China, putting forward a revised draft to tone down the resolution, especially the part about the referral to the ICC.

"We expect the North Korean human rights resolution, which was proposed at the Third Committee by some 50 co-sponsors, such as the European Union and the United States, to be adopted between Nov. 17-26," the source said. "For now, it will likely be Nov. 18."

The U.N. General Assembly has adopted a North Korean human rights resolution every year since 2005. But this year's proposal drew greater international attention because of its call for North Korea's referral to the international court.

The resolutions of 2012 and 2013 were adopted by consensus, but a vote is expected to be needed to adopt this year's resolution, the source said. The source added, however, that the proposed resolution may not be adopted as it is now.

That's because other countries, especially China, the North's main benefactor, could demand a revision. Should a revised draft be submitted, co-sponsors of the original draft will need to determine whether to accept the revision.

If they decide to accept it, then all committee members will vote on whether to accept the original draft or the revised version. If the co-sponsors don't accept it, all committee members will then vote on whether to accept the revised draft, the source said.

North Korean diplomats have been scrambling to tone down the resolution, offering to invite the special U.N. human rights investigator to visit the country in exchange for the envisioned resolution dropping any mention of referring the issue to the ICC.

They have also stepped up PR activities, including providing a rare briefing on the country's human rights situation for U.N. diplomats, attending a private seminar to make the country's case and speaking more frequently to reporters.

But chances of actual referral of the North to the ICC are slim because U.N. General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, and the U.N. Security Council is unlikely to approve the resolution because China is sure to exercise its veto power against it.

North Korea has long been labeled as one of the worst human rights violators in the world. The communist regime does not tolerate dissent, holds hundreds of thousands of people in political prison camps and keeps tight control over outside information.

But the North has bristled at any talk of its human rights record, calling it a U.S. plot to topple its regime. (Yonhap)