The UN Human Rights Council has finalized a report advising North Korea to improve its human rights conditions.

The council held a meeting in Geneva on Tuesday and adopted the report based on the council's Universal Periodic Review of the North's overall human rights performance. The review was held May 1 and was attended by 86 UN member states.

The report made some positive assessments on North Korea joining the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and providing 12-year free mandatory education to its children. A sharp drop in infant mortality and allowing inter-Korean family reunions were also viewed in a positive light.

But the report also pointed to many unresolved issues such as foreign abductees in the North, shutdown of political camps, release of political prisoners and guarantee of freedom of expression.

The Universal Periodic Review examines the human rights performance of all 193 UN member countries. South Korea underwent the review in 2008 and 2012.

North Korea received its first review in late 2009 after which it continuously delayed the second UPR. To make up for the delay, this time around the North dispatched a large number of ranking officials to the UN council review.

The report details recommendations proposed by UN members. It asks North Korea to cooperate with UN rights agencies and prohibit capital punishment and public executions. It calls for efforts to prevent torture and ban punishment of North Korean escapees repatriated back home. UN member nations also urge the North to guarantee free access to the Internet, ban forced labor and join the International Labor Organization.

Out of the total 268 recommendations, Pyongyang said it will conduct an internal review for 185 of them and issue a response before the UN Human Rights Council's meeting on September 24. But it refused to accept the other 83 recommendations, saying they are based on misunderstanding and prejudice.

The report is expected to be formally adopted at the September council meeting.

The North's human rights issue is a key concern for the global community. The UN is paying particular attention as it appointed a Special Rapporteur on North Korean human rights in 2010.

Indonesia's former prosecutor-general Marzuki Darusman continues to serve as Special Rapporteur. In a seminar last month, Darusman said that the totalitarian North Korean state systematically violates basic human rights of its people and the world community must make this stop.

The UN Commission of Inquiry on North Korean human rights also released a final report last month and advised referring top North Korean leaders to the International Criminal Court.