◀ Anchor ▶
A public meeting was held at the UN Security Council on human rights in North Korea.
It has been six years since the Security Council discussed the human rights situation in North Korea, and remarks from members of the Security Council criticizing the situation of human rights violations have been pouring out.
Correspondent Narim Kang reports from New York.
◀ Report ▶
The UN Security Council held an open meeting on North Korean human rights on the 17th local time.
Earlier, on the 10th, South Korea, the United States, and Japan jointly requested a meeting.
It was originally expected to hold a vote to decide whether to hold the meeting due to opposition from China and Russia, but it was adopted as an agenda without a separate vote.
Prior to the meeting, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in North Korea announced that human rights abuses such as torture and forced labor continued in North Korea, and a young North Korean defector also attended and accused the human rights abuses in North Korea.
The United States said that the North Korean regime’s labor exploitation is leading to illegal weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile development resources, and that the Security Council should pay attention to North Korean human rights issues.
[린다 토머스-그린필드/유엔주재 미국대사]
″Human rights violations ensure that the North Korean regime diverts public resources to develop illegal weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.″
South Korea, which will act as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council from next year, also emphasized that North Korea’s human rights issue is a security issue.
[황준국/유엔주재 대사]
″If the human rights situation in North Korea cannot be resolved, the nuclear issue cannot be hoped for either.″
On the other hand, China and Russia argued that human rights issues could not be on the Security Council agenda, and that pressuring North Korea would only exacerbate tension.
After the Security Council meeting ended, representatives from 52 countries, including South Korea, the United States and Japan, appealed for the participation of UN member states to improve the human rights situation in North Korea.
It has been six years since 2017 that a Security Council meeting has been held regarding human rights in North Korea.
It is meaningful that the UN Security Council openly discussing human rights in North Korea itself can put pressure on North Korea.
This is Kang Na-rim from MBC News at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
#Security #Council #holds #open #meeting #North #Korean #human #rights #years
2023-08-18 00:44:24
