Pyongyang raps assessments of human rights in North Korea voiced on UN GA sidelines
NEW YORK/MOSCOW. Sept 25 (Interfax) - Pyongyang is indignant over the fact that its representatives were not allowed to attend a meeting on human rights in North Korea that took place on the sidelines of 69th session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
"Why are they [U.S. and other countries] afraid when we said that we want to attend? Because their lies will be exposed," North Korean Ambassador to the UN Ja Song-nam told journalists as quoted by South Korean media.
The North Korean diplomat also protested against critical assessments that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry gave to the human rights situation in North Korea. Kerry, in particular, called on the North Korean authorities to shut down prison camps.
The meeting on human rights in North Korea took place on Tuesday and involved besides Kerry UN envoy of North Korean human rights issues Robert King, South Korean and Japanese foreign ministers, and UN Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein.
Representatives of North Korea earlier wanted to participate in the meeting; however, they were not allowed to attend it.
The North Korean embassy to Moscow also criticized the assessments made at the meeting. A source with the embassy speaking to Interfax about Pyongyang's position on the voiced assessments referred to the human rights report issued earlier in September.
The human rights report published by North Korean Association for Human Rights Studies on September 13 in particular highlights efforts to protect human rights in North Korea and tells about Pyongyang's international effort in this area.
In particular, "North Korea steadily adheres to the position of carrying out true dialog and cooperation that would contribute to improving the human rights situation on the global scale," the report reads.
