The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will discuss human rights abuses in North Korea on August 17. This would be the first formal public meeting of the 15-member council on the issue since 2017.
“The United States and co-pen holder Albania, along with Japan and the Republic of Korea, are pleased to announce that we requested a meeting of the Security Council for the morning of August 17 to discuss the DPRK’s (North Korea’s) human rights abuses and violations and the links to international peace and security,” said US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas Greenfield while addressing media persons.
“It is long overdue,” said the U.S. Ambassador while reading a joint statement by the United States, Albania, Japan, and South Korea. The Ambassador further added that North Korea’s human rights abuses and violations facilitate the advancement of its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles programme.
During this month’s U.S. presidency, Thomas-Greenfield, the current chair of the council, announced the news alongside ambassadors from Albania, Japan, and South Korea. The council would meet on August 17 and be briefed by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk and the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the DPRK, Elizabeth Salmón, said Thomas-Greenfield.
North Korea has repeatedly rejected accusations of abuses and blames sanctions for a dire humanitarian situation. Since 2006, it has been under U.N. sanctions over its ballistic missiles and nuclear programmes, but there are aid exemptions.