UNSC To Conduct An Open Meeting On Human Rights Crisis In North Korea

The UN Security Council is planning a significant open meeting to discuss the human rights crisis in North Korea. 

This will be the first open meeting on this topic since 2017. The meeting is set to take place next week, and it was announced by the United States. 

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield mentioned that the UN’s human rights chief, Volker Türk, and Elizabeth Salmon, an independent investigator on human rights in North Korea, will provide briefings during the meeting on August 17.

The U.S. Ambassador emphasized that the human rights abuses and violations committed by North Korea’s government are connected to its development of prohibited weapons like weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles. 

She stressed that the Security Council should address these abuses and crimes, not only against North Korean citizens but also against people in Japan and South Korea.

It’s noteworthy that Russia and China, which have strong ties with North Korea, have been blocking Security Council actions related to North Korea since they vetoed a U.S.-proposed resolution in 2022 aimed at imposing new sanctions due to North Korea’s missile launches. 

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Therefore, it’s not anticipated that the Security Council will take any immediate actions during this open meeting.

Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield indicated that the U.S. has garnered enough support from other council members to proceed with the open meeting. China and Russia may voice their protest against the meeting, but it seems likely that it will proceed.

The meeting’s focus is on highlighting North Korea’s human rights abuses and how they intersect with its nuclear and missile programs. The country has faced sanctions in the past, but these measures have not been entirely successful in curbing its nuclear ambitions.

In March, Elizabeth Salmon, the UN special rapporteur, noted that peace and denuclearization efforts cannot ignore North Korea’s human rights situation. 

The suffering of the North Korean people has worsened, with limited access to necessities like food, medicine, and healthcare. Some have even perished due to cold weather and lack of heating.

The UNSC open meeting against the North Korean government is expected to address the human rights issues and their broader implications for international security and stability.

However the citizens of Afghanistan are also suffering from similar issues (or even worse than North Korea) under the Talibani administration. But the UN council hasn’t taken any steps towards that and even not addressed the issue yet.