A United Nations human rights seminar has opened in Seoul on Wednesday.

The two-day international human rights event is being jointly sponsored by South Korea's Foreign Ministry, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and the United Nations Development Program.

During a welcoming speech, Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said that the challenge of achieving universal respect for human rights remains a daunting one.

Ban, however, expressed hopes that the seminar would make a significant contribution to the international debate on finding realistic ways to implement human rights standards in local contexts.

Some 150 human rights experts from around the world are participating in the meeting, including Louise Arbour, U.N. high commissioner for human rights, and Vitit Muntarbhorn, a Thai professor named as the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea.