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U.N. Human Rights Council passes new North Korea human rights resolution

North Korea denounced the U.N. resolution and said it is filled with “falsehood and distortion.”

By Elizabeth Shim

GENEVA, Switzerland, March 27 (UPI) -- The U.N. Human Rights Council condemned North Korea's systemic violation of human rights with crimes that ranged from the operation of political prison camps to caste-based discrimination.

The U.N. passed the resolution on Friday, the final day of the 28th Regular Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Of the 47 member countries that included Japan and members of the European Union, 27 were in favor, 6 were opposed and 14 abstained from the vote.

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Yonhap reports that during the meeting, U.N. member countries censured North Korea's continued engagement in brutal human rights violations. The council said the adoption of a new North Korea human rights resolution is necessary.

The U.S. representative added the highest level of the regime mandates the North Korea human rights violations, and that Washington welcomes the establishment of a U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Seoul -- a move intended to monitor North Korea human rights.

In response to the resolution passed in Geneva, Ri Hung Sik, North Korea director-general of the foreign ministry's international organization bureau, denounced the U.N. proposal, and said it represents a political conspiracy filled with "falsehood and distortion."

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On Wednesday Voice of America reported the U.N. agency said the office would open in Seoul during the second quarter of 2015.

Pyongyang blasted the U.N. move, and North Korea's Committee for Peaceful Unification vowed "merciless punishment" against Seoul for accommodating the U.N. office.

North Korea's state-controlled media claimed Thursday its government has apprehended two South Korean nationals and have charged them of espionage and anti-North Korea conspiracy.

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