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FM Kang mulls attending UN human rights meeting

Feb. 20, 2018 - 15:42 By Yonhap

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kung-wha is considering attending a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council to be held this month, her spokesman said Tuesday.

"Things are still under review about what Kang will say and which agenda she will raise in case she decides to attend the meeting," Noh Kyu-duk told reporters during a regular press briefing. 

Foreign Minister Kang Kung-wha (L) (Yonhap)

The high-level meeting of the panel is scheduled for Feb. 26-28 in Geneva, Switzerland. The Geneva-based human rights council has adopted a resolution condemning the North's human rights situations every year since its launch in 2006.

Kang's trip to Geneva would come at a sensitive time when South Korea is actively engaging with North Korea, deemed to be one of notorious countries in the world for human rights violations.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un recently invited South Korean President Moon Jae-in to Pyongyang for what could be the third inter-Korean summit. Moon has yet to formally accept the invitation but expressed hopes of creating the right conditions for the meeting to take place.

The US has been active in shedding light on human rights violations by the North Korean regime. President Donald Trump invited a North Korean defector to his State of Union speech and Vice President Mike Pence met a group of escapees from the North during his recent visit to South Korea. (Yonhap)