BUSAN, South Korea, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- South Korea said Thursday it will abstain from voting on a U.N. resolution to condemn North Korea's human rights record, a government official said.
The European Union-sponsored draft resolution that blasts North Korea's poor human rights record was introduced early this month at the U.N. General Assembly. It was the first such resolution to be introduced in the U.N. General Assembly.
The draft cites the North's abduction of foreign nationals in past decades as part of North Korea's "systematic, widespread and grave violations" of human rights.
The U.N. General Assembly is due to vote on the resolution Thursday. South Korean officials expect the resolution to be approved.
"South Korea would abstain from the vote," said a South Korean official visiting in the southern city of Busan for the Asian-Pacific summit.
He defended the decision, saying the North's human rights problems should be addressed within the context of the overall framework, such as nuclear issue, inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation, and confidence building, among others.
The Seoul government has maintained a low-key stance toward human rights abuse in North Korea for fear of creating friction with the Pyongyang regime.
