1. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se attended as a panelist the high-level human rights meeting themed “Preventing Conflicts through the Mainstreaming of Human Rights,” which was held on September 21 on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly. At the meeting, the Minister called on the international community to take strong, united actions to improve the human rights situation in North Korea.

2. Minister Yun, pointing out that the North Korean government’s continued violations of human rights of its people could lead to a conflict, asked the international community to send out to the North Korean government a strong message that it must stop human rights violations.

° The Minister condemned North Korea for conducting its fifth nuclear test in disregard of the life of its ordinary citizens even amidst the worst-ever flood in decades. He went on to say that it is ordinary people of North Korea who bear the brunt of the international community’s inaction and voiced hope that the General Assembly will send out an unequivocal message of the international community that massive human rights abuses by the North Korean government will have serious consequences.

3. The participants shared Minister Yun’s view that before human rights violations result in a conflict, the UN should listen to those vulnerable to violations of their human rights, asking the UN to play an active role in this regard.

4. The human rights meeting, which Minister Yun attended as a panelist, is seen to have served as a good opportunity for the Republic of Korea, the chair of the Human Rights Council and country directly concerned with North Korea’s human rights issue, to inform the international community of the need to prevent conflict through the mainstreaming of human rights at the UN as well as the grave human rights situation in North Korea.


* unofficial translation