North Korea reportedly warned the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday that it would "respond strongly" to any discussion by the body of the country's human rights situation.

According to Reuters on Wednesday, North Korea's UN ambassador Kim Song issued the warning in a letter to the Security Council, saying that discussion by the body of the North's human rights issues would be a "serious provocation." 

Several members of the 15-member council, including the U.S., Britain, France and Germany, are reportedly planning to request a meeting on the North's human rights situation next Thursday, which falls on the UN's Human Rights Day. 

The North Korean envoy reportedly said in the letter that such a meeting would be an "act of conniving at and siding with the U.S.' hostile policy, which will lead to undermining rather than helping reduction of tensions on the Korean Peninsula and resolution of the nuclear issue."

The Security Council discussed North Korean human rights every year from 2014 through 2017, but skipped 2018 as the call for a meeting failed to secure sufficient votes in the 15-member council to support holding a session.

[Photo : YONHAP News]