N. Korea calls for participation in U.S-led meeting on human rights

NEW YORK, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has asked to participate in a ministerial meeting that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is hosting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly to discuss the North's human rights record, Pyongyang's ambassador to the United Nations said Monday.

Amb. Ja Song-nam told reporters that the North is waiting for a response from the United States after asking for the country's participation in the human rights meeting set for Tuesday.

The envoy said the North should attend the meeting and put forward its position because it is an issue about the country. He also emphasized that there is no reason for the U.S. to oppose the North's participation if it is truly interested in resolving problems through dialogue.

Tuesday's meeting would mark the first ministerial meeting on North Korea's human rights record on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. The meeting is aimed primarily at drumming up international support for a U.N. resolution on the North's human rights record.

Other participants in the meeting include South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and the new U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein.

The North's foreign minister, Ri Su-yong, arrived in New York on Sunday to attend the U.N. meeting.

Meanwhile, the North's ambassador brushed aside the possibility of Ri holding a meeting with his South Korean counterpart on the sidelines of the U.N. session, saying it is not right for people from the same country to meet and talk in another nation.
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