Six UN Security Council members and Japan called for publicly discussing North Korea’s human rights situation, after a four-year hiatus in holding an open session at the Security Council.

The seven urged other member countries on the 15-member UNSC to resume a public discussion on the subject by issuing a joint statement highlighting human rights violations and abuses by the Kim Jong-un regime.

Wednesday’s joint statement was issued after UNSC members had a closed-door consultation on human rights situations in North Korea under “Any Other Business.“ By using an AOB format, the UNSC can discuss standing agenda items behind closed doors without prior consensus among member states.

The seven countries include France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, which are three of the five UNSC permanent members.

The remaining four consist of three nonpermanent UNSC members -- Estonia, Ireland, and Norway -- and Japan.

In the statement, the seven jointly raised the necessity to hold a briefing on North Korean human rights in an open session, expressing concerns that human rights abuses have been “exacerbated by the regime’s implementation of measures purposely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“The regime’s egregious human rights violations, much like its unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs, are destabilizing to international peace and security, and must be prioritized within the Council,” said US Ambassador to UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who read the statement at a press briefing following the consultation.

“The modern world has no place for such brutality. And it is time for the Council to address it.”

The seven also urged all Security Council members to support an open briefing next year where they can discuss the “dire human rights situation and its implications for peace and security, and focus on the actions the Security Council should take to help the countless individuals impacted by the regime.”

But open sessions on North Korea’s human rights situation have been contentious issues among UNSC member states mainly due to differing views and strenuous objections from China and Russia. 

The two are the remaining permanent members of the UNSC which did not join the move to issue the joint statement on Wednesday.

China and Russia have opposed openly and separately discussing North Korea’s human rights violations as part of the Security Council’s official agenda, arguing that human rights issues do not fall within the UNSC’s remit and are not related to its core mandate.

Also importantly, a procedural vote is required to hold a public discussion and briefing on the human rights situation in North Korea due to a divided opinion among UNSC member states. And at least nine affirmative votes out of 15 votes need to be secured in order to proceed with the open session. 

No open session since 2017
Wednesday’s joint statement is notable given that the UNSC has stopped publicly discussing North Korea’s human rights abuses since December 2017.

In December 2014, the UNSC discussed North Korea’s human rights as a separate and formal agenda item for the first time, after a Commission of Inquiry established by the UN Human Rights Council released an extensive report on the “systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights” in North Korea earlier in that year.

From 2014 to 2017, the UNSC had held a formal and open discussion on the subject on a yearly basis. 

But the UNSC stopped holding a session on the matter in 2018 and 2019, especially with the lack of support from the Trump administration, which refused to back a move by UNSC members to openly shed light on the human rights situation in North Korea.

In 2020, the UNSC had a closed-door session on the human rights situation in North Korea and resumed the discussion on the matter for the first time in three years.

Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly is expected to adopt its annual resolution on North Korea’s human rights situation for the 17th consecutive year during Thursday’s plenary session.

This year’s draft resolution reiterated “deep concern at the precarious humanitarian situation” that has been exacerbated by the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the regime’s restrictive measures including a yearslong border closure.

The resolution also urged Pyongyang to “ensure the timely delivery and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines” and cooperate with international agencies in charge of vaccine supplies.

In the joint statement, the seven countries on Wednesday said they hoped that UN membership would “once again come together and universally condemn the DPRK’s violations” by adopting the resolution.

By Ji Da-gyum (dagyumji@heraldcorp.com)