[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The United Nations General Assembly adopted the North Korea human rights resolution condemning North Korea's systematic and widespread human rights violations for the 18th consecutive year. This year's resolution newly included content targeting the killing of South Korean government officials in the West Sea and the forced repatriation of North Korean fishermen who defected.
On the 15th (local time), the UN General Assembly held a plenary session at the UN Headquarters in New York, USA, and passed the North Korea human rights resolution along with several other human rights-related resolutions by consensus without a vote. This resolution has been adopted every year since 2005 at the UN General Assembly.
Led by European Union (EU) member states, this year's resolution saw South Korea participate as a co-sponsor for the first time in four years. While most of the resolution's content was similar to previous ones, it added references to recent internationally controversial incidents such as the killing of South Korean officials in the West Sea.
The resolution added the sentence "urges North Korea to disclose all relevant information to the bereaved families and related agencies" to existing clauses expressing concern over torture, summary executions, arbitrary detention, and abductions of foreigners. This is interpreted as largely reflecting the demands of the bereaved family of the late Lee Dae-jun, a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official killed by North Korean gunfire in the West Sea in September 2020, and the South Korean government.
The resolution also pointed out North Korea's discrimination against women and worsening domestic violence, and called for allowing humanitarian international organizations access to North Korea considering the COVID-19 situation.
The resolution recommended that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) refer North Korea's human rights situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and consider additional sanctions targeting those "deemed most responsible for human rights violations." This clause has been included in the resolution for nine consecutive years since 2014.
Additionally, it addressed issues such as ▲torture, arbitrary detention, sexual violence ▲political prison camps ▲enforced disappearances ▲restrictions on freedom of movement ▲treatment of repatriated defectors ▲restrictions on freedom of thought, religion, expression, and assembly ▲violations of economic, social, and cultural rights ▲and human rights violations against women, children, and persons with disabilities, stating that it "strongly condemns North Korea's systematic and widespread human rights violations in the strongest terms."
In response, Kim Song, North Korea's ambassador to the UN, claimed that this resolution is "a clear infringement on our country's sovereignty and a political provocation," and asserted that the human rights violations mentioned in the resolution "do not exist in North Korea."
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