South Korea has joined some 50 countries in pushing for a resolution that condemns North Korea’s alleged human rights abuses.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Seoul decided to co-sponsor the resolution, which is being led by the European Union, based on the belief that the issue of human rights should be dealt with separately from other issues, as human rights are a universal value of mankind.

The resolution was submitted to the U.N. Secretariat last week.

The South Korean government had abstained from voting on North Korea human rights resolutions from 2003 to 2005, before voting in favor of the resolution in 2006, shortly after the North conducted its first nuclear test. Last year, the government again abstained from voting.

The resolution will be circulated on Wednesday at U.N. headquarters in New York and is expected to be put to a vote in the middle of this month.