N. Korea expresses full support for Palestinian UN membership

This picture shows smoke billowing over the southern Gaza Strip during Israeli bombardment on January 5, 2024. (AFP-Yonhap)

North Korea supports a United Nations resolution for Palestine's full membership, Pyongyang's foreign ministry said Sunday, criticizing the United States for vetoing the move.

The remark came after the UN General Assembly urged the security council to give "favorable consideration" to full Palestinian membership on Friday (US time).

"The DPRK fully supports it," a spokesperson for the North's foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, noting that the rights of the Palestinians are "mercilessly violated" by the US.

DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Last month, the US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have recognized Palestine's full membership, a status that Palestinians had long sought at the UN.

Palestine has been a "nonmember observer state" at the UN. since 2012.