China opposes UN Security Council meeting on North Korea rights

US, Albania and Japan requested meeting, which will be held on Thursday – the first formal public meeting of the 15-member council on this issue since 2017

‘China sees no added value for the council to have such a meeting and will be against it,’ said China’s UN mission representative

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Members of the UN Security Council in New York, US. China opposes a Security Council meeting on human rights abuses in North Korea planned for Thursday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 5:36am, 15 Aug 2023Updated: 6:28am, 15 Aug 2023

China opposes a planned United Nations Security Council meeting on human rights abuses in North Korea because it will only “intensify confrontation and antagonism”, a spokesperson for China’s UN mission in New York said on Monday.

The United States, Albania and Japan requested the meeting, which will be held on Thursday. It will be the first formal public meeting of the 15-member council on the issue since 2017.

“China sees no added value for the council to have such a meeting and will be against it,” said China’s UN mission representative, adding that the council’s mandate was “maintenance of international peace and security, not human rights”.

“A council meeting on human rights in the DPRK falls outside the council’s mandate, politicises human rights issues, and only serves to intensify confrontation and antagonism,” said the spokesperson, referring to the country’s formal name - the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for an increase in missile production to help secure “overwhelming military power” and be ready for war, state media KCNA said on Monday, as South Korea and the United States gear up for annual military drills.