North Korea tells EU to 'mind its own business' on human rights
by: Sertac Comak
North Korea's UN mission has lashed out at the European Union over a draft UN resolution. Pyongyang has said the West does not have a monopoly on human rights.
North Korea responded to the European Union's draft United Nations resolution on human rights in the country by telling the bloc to "mind its own business," state media reported Thursday.
Pyongyang has long been accused by the UN and human rights advocates of committing human rights violations.
North Korea's UN mission said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency that the move was a "farce" and a "politically motivated provocation."
It said the resolution is "flagrantly distorting it's human rights policy," claiming that human rights are not "a monopoly of the West."
Referring to the protests in Europe, the North Korean mission said: "Streets are filled with demonstrators from all walks of life demanding such elementary rights as the rights to existence."
"The EU had better mind its own business, instead of hyping up the nonexistent 'human rights issues,'" it added.
South Korea to co-sponsor the resolution
The UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution condemning North Korea's human rights violations every year since 2005.
According to the South Korean Yonhap News Agency, Seoul has decided to co-sponsor the resolution proposed by the EU.
It is the fifth consecutive year that Seoul has done so, following a break from 2019 to 2021 under the liberal Moon Jae-in government.
The draft text is expected to be adopted by the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly later this month, before being submitted to the UN General Assembly for final approval.
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