North Korea Urges UN Human Rights Council to Stop Interfering in China's Internal Affairs

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Amid escalating tensions between the United States and China, North Korea has publicly sided with China while criticizing Western countries at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

According to the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs website on the 20th, Han Dae-sung, the North Korean ambassador to the UN in Geneva, stated in his speech at the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council on the 12th, "We demand that some countries stop using the Xinjiang region and Hong Kong issues as interference in China's internal affairs."

Ambassador Han emphasized, "We strongly demand that the UN Human Rights Council and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights strictly adhere to the principles of respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, and non-interference in internal affairs as stipulated in the UN Charter, along with their operational guidelines, and cease politicized and discriminatory practices that unfairly treat certain countries."

This appears to be a statement targeting Western countries, including the United States, which have pointed out China's persecution of the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang and the suppression of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong as serious human rights issues.

He also claimed that the UN Human Rights Council has been corrupted by Western countries' criticism of human rights issues such as racial discrimination.

Ambassador Han pointed out, "The UN Human Rights Council was established as a platform for dialogue to address all human rights issues fairly and equally without discrimination, but today, discussions on human rights issues have become politicized according to Western interests, turning into a stage for criminalizing the human rights situations of some sovereign countries based on falsehoods and fabrications to achieve impure political objectives."

He further referred to the West as "a place where severe human rights violations are rampant," criticizing, "It is absurd for the West to arrogate itself as 'human rights judges' by devising extraterritorial human rights laws such as the North Korea Human Rights Act, the Global Human Rights Sanctions Act 2020, and the European Alliance Action Plan for Human Rights and Democracy, thereby justifying interference in the internal affairs of sovereign countries."

Regarding Japan, he raised his voice by mentioning the atrocities committed during the Japanese colonial period, calling it "the world's largest kidnapping crime country that committed unprecedented crimes against humanity," and added that Japan continues ethnic discriminatory policies against Koreans residing in Japan instead of reflecting on and compensating for these acts.

Ambassador Han's remarks came amid expectations that the UN Human Rights Council will adopt a resolution on North Korean human rights. The European Union (EU) has already submitted a draft resolution, and it is expected to be adopted around the 23rd when the regular council session concludes.

The United States and China held a two-day high-level meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, on the 18th but ended without issuing a joint statement, only confirming their differences in positions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.