Seoul welcomes UNHRC resolution on N. Korean human rights

SEOUL, March 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Friday hailed the latest United Nations resolution condemning North Korea's systematic and widespread violation of its people's human rights.

"The (Seoul) government again urges all U.N. member nations and concerned parties to honor all recommendations on the resolution aimed at improving human rights conditions in North Korea, and for the North Korean government to immediately stop its human rights violations and take all necessary measures to implement the resolution," foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck said in a released statement.

Cho's remarks came shortly after the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopted the resolution on North Korea in a meeting in Geneva. Earlier reports said the resolution was adopted by consensus.

"The fact the latest resolution was adopted by unanimous consensus clearly shows the deep concerns the international community holds over the seriousness of North Korea's human rights conditions," Cho added.

In a 2016 resolution, the UNHRC called for efforts to hold those responsible for North Korean human rights violations accountable.

The latest resolution urges additional efforts to bring those responsible to justice, calling for the establishment of a new body to collect and preserve evidence on human rights abuses in the communist North.

North Korea has long been labeled one of the world's worst human rights violators. The communist regime does not tolerate dissent, holds hundreds of thousands of people in political prison camps and keeps tight control over outside information.

Pyongyang, however, has periodically bristled at such criticism, calling it a U.S.-led attempt to topple its regime.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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