By Yi Whan-woo
The United Nations on Tuesday will open its office on North Korea human rights in downtown Seoul, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday.
This is the first time the U.N. will set up a field office to exclusively investigate Pyongyang's state-perpetrated violations of human rights.
Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, chief of the U.N.'s Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR), is scheduled to join the ceremony on Tuesday to celebrate the establishment of a U.N. presence at the Seoul Global Center Building in Jongno, according to diplomatic sources.
"It is rare for an OHCHR head to visit here to discuss North Korean human rights," a government source said. "It shows the growing international concern about human rights in the reclusive state."
While here, he plans to give a lecture to university students on global human rights.
Based in Geneva, the OHCHR focuses on protecting human rights around the globe.
Five to six OHCHR officials are expected to work at the agency's permanent mission in the South Korean capital.
The U.N. has pressed North Korea to improve its dire human rights record, in particular the brutality of its concentration camps and the sadistic public executions of its people.
In December, the U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution asking the U.N. Security Council to bring North Korean leader Kim Jon-gun to trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the Netherlands, for crimes against humanity.
The repressive regime has denied the international community's accusations.
Pyongyang's propaganda website, "Uriminzokkiri," threatened in May to "sweep" the OHCHR's diplomatic mission to Seoul if it was set up.
The United Nations on Tuesday will open its office on North Korea human rights in downtown Seoul, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday.
This is the first time the U.N. will set up a field office to exclusively investigate Pyongyang's state-perpetrated violations of human rights.
Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, chief of the U.N.'s Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR), is scheduled to join the ceremony on Tuesday to celebrate the establishment of a U.N. presence at the Seoul Global Center Building in Jongno, according to diplomatic sources.
"It is rare for an OHCHR head to visit here to discuss North Korean human rights," a government source said. "It shows the growing international concern about human rights in the reclusive state."
While here, he plans to give a lecture to university students on global human rights.
Based in Geneva, the OHCHR focuses on protecting human rights around the globe.
Five to six OHCHR officials are expected to work at the agency's permanent mission in the South Korean capital.
The U.N. has pressed North Korea to improve its dire human rights record, in particular the brutality of its concentration camps and the sadistic public executions of its people.
In December, the U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution asking the U.N. Security Council to bring North Korean leader Kim Jon-gun to trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the Netherlands, for crimes against humanity.
The repressive regime has denied the international community's accusations.
Pyongyang's propaganda website, "Uriminzokkiri," threatened in May to "sweep" the OHCHR's diplomatic mission to Seoul if it was set up.
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