Accountability of Kim Jong Un first stated in UN resolution on N. Korea

A U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolution against North Korea, which stressed the accountability of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was introduced Thursday to the UN General Assembly's Third Committee in charge of social, humanitarian, and cultural issues. With regard to the explanation of North Korean agencies that violate human rights, the word "leadership" was mentioned this time and such wording indicated Kim Jong Un.

South Korean diplomats also said that "he crimes against humanity committed in North Korea under the influence of North Korean leadership” was added in article 8 of this resolution, which stresses the accountability of the North Korean leadership.

UN resolutions on North Korean human rights had been adopted for 11 consecutive years since 2005. The 2014 resolution, which was written based on the Commission of Inquiry (COI) report, demanded to submit human rights conditions of the North to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

This year’s resolution was completed after detailed negotiations between the EU and the South Korean government. The resolution clearly stated the accountability of the North Korean leadership and included negative impacts of the development of nuclear and missile programs on human rights conditions of its residents, and exploitation of North Korean workers deployed overseas for the first time.

In the meantime, the phrase of "calls for dialogues between the two Koreas" was deleted. It was conventionally included every year until 2015. “The expression‎ of ‘inter-Korean’ was eliminated and a phrase ‘pay attention to the significance of having dialogues to improve human rights and humanitarian situations of North Korea’ was included," the South Korean Foreign Ministry said. "Such decision was made considering that a talk for talk between the two countries was not appropriate and realistic under such circumstances.”

Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN's Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea, who took the position this August, plans to visit South Korea in mid-November to discuss with government officials on human rights conditions of the North.

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