U.N. action urges respect from N. Korea

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- The United Nations is preparing to review North Korea's human rights conditions next month during a special session in Geneva, Switzerland, officials said.

Just weeks before the Universal Periodic Review session, the United Nations Thursday adopted a resolution that condemned North Korea for its "systemic, widespread and grave violations" of human rights," the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported Friday.

The resolution also urged the reclusive Communist country's leaders to "respect fully all human rights and fundamental freedoms."

The resolution comes ahead of the U.N. Human Rights Council's assessment of North Korea's general human rights situation Dec. 7 in a Universal Periodic Review session, officials said.

The UPR system, introduced last year, was adopted to provide member nations advice on how to improve their records on human rights, Yonhap said. All U.N. members are subject to the review.

"In the hearing-style session, North Korean representatives will give opening remarks and receive questions from other nations on the North Korean human rights condition," a South Korean official told Yonhap.