Pyongyang demands UN chief annul NK resolution

By Yi Whan-woo

North Korea has called on U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to annul a U.N. resolution against its regime, claiming that false testimonies were submitted which enabled it to be passed, according to Pyongyang’s state-controlled media, Wednesday.

The Korean Central News Agency (KNCA) said that the country’s foreign minister Ri Su-yong asked Ban in a letter to withdraw the resolution adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in December last year.

“The resolution should be void because it was based on account given by Shin Dong-hyuk,” Ri was quoted as saying by the KNCA. Shin, a defector-turned-activist, admitted in January that there were inaccuracies in his testimony regarding his life in the North.

“Shin confessed his testimonies were made up, proving the resolution was totally groundless.

“I asked the U.N. to take appropriate measures to annul the resolution. I also urge the European Union (EU) to apologize for forcing other U.N. member-countries to adopt the resolution,” Ri said.

Pyongyang has been criticizing the U.N. Commission of Inquiry’s (COI) report and subsequent U.N. resolution against the North over its dire human rights record.

Released in February 2014, the COI report took accounts of escapees, including Shin, from the North into consideration.

The report accused the dictatorial regime of running political prison camps where up to 120,000 people are thought to be detained. It also asked the U.N. Security Council to refer North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to the International Criminal Court for state-perpetrated violations of human rights.

In September, the EU and Japan circulated a draft version of the U.N. resolution based on the COI report. The U.N. General Assembly then approved the resolution in December. North Korea claimed it was “U.S.-imposed resolution,” and threatened to carry out a nuclear test.

On Jan 16, Shin confessed to American journalist Blaine Harden that he altered some details about his life story in a best-selling book, “Escape from Camp 14.”

Published in 2012, it was written by Harden based on Shin’s account about his life in the regime’s gulags.

He initially testified he was born at Camp 14 in 1982 and spent his entire life there before escaping to freedom in 2005. Chances for survival are believed to be slim at Camp 14, which is notorious among the escapes for inhuman treatment, including torture.

Shin then admitted he spent part of his youth at Camp 18 instead of Camp 14.

The U.S. stood by Shin, saying that “more than ample evidence” exists about Pyongyang’s crimes against humanity.

Citing the COI report, the U.S. also said there are ongoing, ‘systematic, widespread, and gross’ human rights violations in North Korea.