The UN Security Council (UNSC) convened a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York on December 22 and decided to adopt the North’s human rights issue as an official topic of discussion.

Among the council’s 15 members, eleven voted for the adoption, including South Korea, the U.S. and France. Russia and China, which have veto power, voted against, while Nigeria and Chad abstained.

The council’s latest move came less than a week after a new resolution on North Korea’s human rights conditions passed at the UN General Assembly.

At the 69th General Assembly held in New York on December 18, the resolution on North Korea’s human rights violations passed after receiving overwhelming support. One-hundred-16 UN member states voted in favor of the resolution, 20 against, while 53 abstained.

The resolution recommends that the North’s human rights violations be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and is regarded to be the most powerful resolution yet to be adopted. The resolution also calls for the UN General Assembly to present the UN Security Council with a report issued by the Commission of Inquiry (COI) on the wide range of ongoing crimes against humanity in the North.

Ahead of the voting, the North exerted all-out efforts to block the passage of the resolution. Cuba, a North Korean ally, submitted an amended resolution excluding the referral to the ICC in an apparent bid to reflect the North’s stance, but the amended resolution was voted down.

Also before the General Assembly voted on the resolution, the North claimed that the passage of the resolution was being pursued in line with what it called Washington’s hostile policies against Pyongyang. The North added that the resolution is a product of political confrontation that has nothing to do with promoting or protecting human rights and is rather focused on the collapse of the North’s regime.

1. The Sinking of the Sewol Ferry & Special Sewol Law

2. Dissolution of Unified Progressive Party

3. June 4 Local Elections & July 30 By-elections

4. President Park Geun-hye’s Summit Diplomacy

5. UN General Assembly Passes New Resolution on N. Korea’s Human Rights, UN Security Council Places It on Its Agenda

6. S. Korea Expands “Economic Territory”

7. S. Korea Sees Trade Volume Surpass $1 Tln in Record Time

8. Shooting Rampage at GOP and Military Reform

9. Pope Francis Visits South Korea

10. Sochi Winter Olympics & The Incheon Asian Games