North Korea finds many critics, and a few friends, at UN human rights review

North Korea’s human rights record was once again in the global spotlight as the United Nations conducted the fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the country’s human rights practices in Geneva.

A poster of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un behind bars, protesting the regime's human rights abuses, is displayed outside the North Korean Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva on Wednesday, ahead of the fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of North Korea scheduled for the following day. [YONHAP]

North Korea’s human rights record was once again in the global spotlight as the United Nations conducted the fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the country’s human rights practices in Geneva.

The South Korean delegation, led by Ambassador Yun Seong-deok, condemned North Korea’s recent military deployment of troops to Ukraine, describing it as a "human rights violation."

Yun criticized North Korea’s “extreme militarization” for its detrimental impact on the North Korean people, including the repression of basic freedoms, diversion of essential resources to illicit weapons programs and exploitative labor practices. Under Kim Jong-un’s leadership, North Korea has prioritized nuclear and missile development, while forming a military alliance with Russia. North Korea is believed to have sent around 10,000 young North Korean soldiers — some reportedly as young as in their teens and twenties — to fight along with Russia against Ukraine. A South Korean foreign ministry official said North Korea's extreme militarization was closely connected to human rights issues as "two sides of the same coin."

The UPR, a UN mechanism established in 2008, involves all 193 member states undergoing regular peer reviews of their human rights records. This year marked North Korea’s fourth review since 2009 and its first in five years. Each member state can make pre-queries or recommendations at the site.

Yun Seong-deok, South Korean ambassador to the UN office in Geneva, speaks as the representative of the South Korean government delegation during the fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of North Korea in Geneva on Thursday. [YONHAP]

South Korea also addressed the cases of detainees and forcibly repatriated escapees, urging North Korea to “immediately” resolve issues surrounding abductees, prisoners of war and separated families. It specifically requested the prompt release of six detained South Korean nationals, including missionaries Kim Jung-wook, Kim Kook-kie and Choi Chun-gil. Furthermore, South Korea recommended that North Korea protect repatriated escapees, particularly women and girls, from inhumane treatment and called for the repeal of laws restricting freedom of expression, notably the so-called three "evil" laws implemented since 2020: the Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Act, the Youth Education Guarantee Act and the Pyongyang Cultural Language Protection Act.

Most of the 86 countries that delivered statements at the review condemned North Korea’s severe human rights violations. Countries such as Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Latvia echoed South Korea’s criticisms, particularly regarding North Korea’s military involvement in Ukraine, characterizing it as aiding Russia’s illegal war of aggression.

However, several nations, including Russia, China, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, voiced support for North Korea, highlighting what they called its recent human rights improvements.

While North Korea has consistently rejected UN human rights resolutions, it has participated in the UPR, making it a rare platform to bring the secretive regime into UN human rights discussions. Despite the absence of enforcement power, the UPR has made it possible for UN member states to publicly scrutinize North Korea’s human rights practices.

"The UPR is meaningful as it serves as an avenue to engage North Korea in international human rights dialogue," the South Korean foreign ministry official said in a closed-door briefing on Monday.

On Thursday's review, the North Korean delegation was again present, led by Ambassador Jo Chol-su and joined by officials including Ri Kyong-hun, director of the legislation department for the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, who firmly denied the allegations.

"There are no such things as political prisoners or political prisoner camps in our country,” said Pak Kwang-ho, director of North Korea's Central Court.

Pak argued that those who committed “anti-state crimes” were “spies and terrorists” sent by hostile forces, adding that such individuals are "not many in number" and are “kept in reform institutions but separately from ordinary prisoners.”

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]