The human rights ambassador for South Korea's foreign ministry said on Friday North Korea's human rights violations should be categorized as genocide.

The ambassador, Lee Jung-hoon, cited U.K.-based law firm Hogan Lovells as saying in a report from human rights group Human Liberty that categorizing North Korean human rights violations as genocide should be considered.

Lee, who is also an international studies professor at Yonsei University in Seoul, made the comments at a seminar for North Korean human rights held at the Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C.