UN to host 1st high-level meeting on N. Korea's human rights violations

A United Nations General Assembly meeting is shown in this photo, Dec. 13, 2023. EPA-Yonhap

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will hold its first high-level meeting next week over human rights abuses and violations by North Korea, diplomatic and civic group sources said Monday.

In a circulated letter, UNGA President Philemon Yang announced a plan to convene a high-level plenary meeting on May 20 to address North Korea's human rights violations, in accordance with a relevant UNGA resolution adopted in December last year, the sources said.

It marks the first time that a high-level meeting on the North Korean human rights situation will be hosted by the UNGA. A previous high-level meeting on the subject, held in September 2014 during a UNGA session, was hosted by the South Korean and U.S. governments along with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

A foreign ministry official told Yonhap News Agency that the ministry is currently reviewing options to dispatch a senior official from Seoul, the top envoy to the U.N. or another representative to the meeting.