Anchor: During North Korea's rare appearance at the UN Human Rights Council for a review held once every five years, the international community called on Pyongyang to shut down its political prisons, abolish forced labor, torture and violence against women.
Choi You Sun reports.

Report: 

[Nat sound: UN Human Rights Council Democratic People's Republic of Korea Review - 33rd Session of Universal Periodic Review (May 9)]

At the UN Human Rights Council's review of North Korea's human rights record on Thursday, South Korea called on the North to ratify international treaties on the prevention of torture and racial discrimination.

South Korean Ambassador to the UN Paik Ji-ah also urged Pyongyang to resolve the issue of families separated during the Korean War as a human rights concern.

[Sound bite: Ambassador Paik Ji-ah - S. Korean Mission in Geneva (English)] 
"The issue of separated families is an urgent humanitarian and human rights issue. My delegation recommends that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea(DPRK) continue to cooperate with the Republic of Korea(ROK) to fundamentally resolve this issue, including the implementation of relevant commitments made at the inter-Korean summits."

Seoul also called on Pyongyang to end violence against children, ban child labor and guarantee women's rights, as well as civil and political rights. 

Expressing deep concerns over the fate of between 80-thousand and 120-thousand individuals under deplorable conditions inside North Korea's political prison camps, Mark Cassayre, the Chargé d'Affaires for the U.S. Mission in Geneva, urged the North to abolish its political prisons and guarantee religious freedom.

[Sound bite: Mark Cassayre - Chargé d'Affaires, US Mission in Geneva (English)]
"We recommend North Korea, first, immediately dismantle all political prison camps, release all political prisoners, institute protections against arbitrary detention that guarantee due process and fair trial."

The North Korean ambassador to the UN defended the Kim Jong-un regime, denying the very existence of political prison camps, forced labor and social discrimination.

[Sound bite: Ambassador Han Tae-song - N. Korean Mission in Geneva] 
"In the DPRK, where human beings are held most dear, the people's right to life and fundamental freedoms are fully ensured, robust and elaborate complex machinery is put in place and human rights violations in whatever forms are intolerable."

Han went on to blame international sanctions for hampering his country's efforts to protect and promote human rights.

While the draft of the report from the review session is due early next week, Pyongyang will need to inform the Council which recommendations it will accept and reject, before the final version is adopted by the Council in September.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.

[Photo : KBS News]