UN to host first high-level meeting on North Korea's human rights violations

Seoul, May 12 (IANS) The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will hold its first high-level meeting next week over human rights abuses and violations by North Korea, diplomatic and civic group sources said Monday.

In a circulated letter, UNGA President Philemon Yang announced a plan to convene a high-level plenary meeting on May 20 to address North Korea's human rights violations, in accordance with a relevant UNGA resolution adopted in December last year, the sources said.

It marks the first time that a high-level meeting on the North Korean human rights situation will be hosted by the UNGA, Yonhap news agency reported.

A previous high-level meeting on the subject, held in September 2014 during a UNGA session, was hosted by the South Korean and US governments along with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

No new sanctions against North Korea have been passed since 2018. In May 2022, Russia and China vetoed a new sanctions package proposed by the United States in response to North Korean ballistic missile tests, a violation of UN sanctions.

A foreign ministry official told Yonhap News Agency that the ministry is currently reviewing options to dispatch a senior official from Seoul, the top envoy to the UN or another representative to the meeting.

--IANS

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