The United Nations Security Council on Thursday took up North Korea’s human rights record for the first time in six years, with officials painting a grim picture of extreme hunger, forced labor and medicine shortages in the country.
The United States, which holds the rotating monthly presidency of the council, had sought the meeting along with Albania and Japan.
In addition to reports from U.N. officials, delegates at the meeting heard testimony from Ilhyeok Kim, a North Korean who had fled with his family to South Korea.
He described being forced to work as a child and growing up under a “reign of fear.”“The government turns our blood and sweat into a luxurious life for the leadership and missiles that blast our hard work into the sky,” he said.
Persons:
Ilhyeok Kim
Organizations:
United Nations Security, North
Locations:
United States, Albania, Japan, U.N, North Korean, South Korea