South Korea’s Ambassador to the UN Hwang Joon-kook has expressed concerns about egregious human rights violations against children in North Korea, saying that North Korean children are getting the death penalty for distributing South Korean dramas.

Hwang made the remarks during a meeting of the UN Security Council(UNSC) at the UN headquarters in New York. 

During the session on the theme of “children and armed conflict,” the ambassador said that according to North Korean defectors, children in North Korea are exposed to egregious human rights violations. Hwang mentioned examples of children receiving the death penalty for distributing South Korean dramas; being detained as political prisoners alongside their family members; and referenced the widespread use of child labor. 

The envoy continued to say that children in the North are facing a serious humanitarian crisis as the North Korean regime relentlessly pursues its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and its leadership squanders the country’s scarce resources on luxury items. 

Hwang also noted that 17 percent of children in the North suffer from stunted growth, quoting a joint publication by the UN Children's Fund(UNICEF), the World Health Organization and the World Bank.

The ambassador said that under international humanitarian law, children affected by armed conflict are entitled to special respect and protection, which includes humanitarian aid, stressing that the UNSC should show zero tolerance for the denial of humanitarian access to children.