The draft, if passed through the committee, would be put to a vote at the UN General Assembly around mid-December. If adopted, it will be the UN's 13th annual resolution on the North Korean human rights condition in a row since the first resolution in 2005.

Like in past years, this year's draft resolution condemns North Korea's extensive human rights violations and calls for addressing the situation, according to the sources.

It newly urges the provision of consular protection measures for foreigners detained by the North Korean authorities while voicing concerns over the suspension of reunions between Korean families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, the sources also noted.

The draft again holds North Korean leadership-controlled institutions accountable for human rights violations as it did last year, virtually blaming North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

It also urged the referral of the country's human rights situation to the ICC, according to the sources.

The EU representative to the UN told the Washington, D.C.-based Voice of America that the draft also points to a connection between the regime's funneling of funds to its nuclear weapons program and the country's dire human rights. It also urged all the UN member countries not to allow in North Korean laborers, according to the report.
 
The South Korean government has also been involved in drafting the resolution, and it will vote for its passage to send a clear message to North Korea, a foreign ministry official here said. 

"The government has been participating in the process of wording the resolution so far and will support the resolution, as well as joining as a co-proposing country," the official said asking not to be named.

Since 2008, South Korea has voted in favor of the annual UN resolution. Before that, Seoul abstained from voting on account of its relations with North Korea, except in 2006, when North Korea conducted its first nuclear test.  

In a report to the parliament last month, the foreign ministry said that the government will join the international efforts on the North Korean human rights front in order to "send a clear message" for the regime to improve the situation. (Yonhap)