UN committee adopts resolution on North Korean human rights backed by South Korea, U.S.
Published: 20 Nov. 2025, 13:07
Updated: 20 Nov. 2025, 19:40
![The United Nations logo is pictured in front of the United Nations Headquarters building during the 71st United Nations General Assembly in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S., Sept. 22, 2016. [REUTERS/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/20/a80bfc8c-678d-436e-b85c-57e9486a62e9.jpg)
The United Nations logo is pictured in front of the United Nations Headquarters building during the 71st United Nations General Assembly in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S., Sept. 22, 2016. [REUTERS/YONHAP]
The UN General Assembly Third Committee handling human rights issues adopted the resolution, co-sponsored by 61 countries, during a meeting in New York on Wednesday, the ministry said in a release.
The resolution will be reviewed at the upcoming General Assembly plenary next month for final adoption.
South Korea, led by the liberal government of President Lee Jae Myung, was among the first 41 member states supporting the draft resolution despite its push for rapprochement with Pyongyang, with the position that it will approach the North's human rights issues as a matter of universal principle.
The United States, which was not initially among the co-sponsoring nations, later joined the group that includes Australia, Britain, France and Japan, among others.
The resolution, introduced for 21 straight years, condemns "in the strongest terms" the long-standing, systematic and gross violations of human rights in and by North Korea, including those that may amount to crimes against humanity.
It also condemns the North for "continuing to divert a disproportionate amount of its resources into military spending and the pursuit of its unlawful nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs over the welfare of its people."
The resolution encourages diplomatic efforts, stressing the importance of dialogue and engagement, including inter-Korean talks, to seek improvement of the human rights and the humanitarian situation in the reclusive state.
"The ROK government will continue its close cooperation with the international community for the substantive enhancement of human rights of DPRK people," the ministry said.
ROK is short for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
North Korea has bristled at past resolutions, calling them a "politically motivated provocation" encroaching upon its sovereignty.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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