South Korea and the European Union(EU) agreed to swiftly push for the launch of a bilateral consultative body on human rights abuses in North Korea and other related issues.

According to Seoul's foreign ministry on Sunday, the agreement was reached last week in Brussels between Chun Young-hee, its director general of the Korean Peninsula peace regime, and Niclas Kvarnström, the new director of the Asia department at the European External Action Service.

In a joint statement following a summit in Seoul in May, the two sides had agreed to reinforce bilateral policy consultation and cooperation within the United Nations to enhance the understanding of the rights situation and to induce respect for human rights inside the regime.

The EU has been vocal about the issue on the world stage, leading efforts to devise an annual draft resolution condemning rights abuses by Pyongyang at the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council.

Chun, meanwhile, hosted a roundtable in Brussels last Thursday, inviting local security and human rights experts to explain Seoul's inter-Korean policies and concerns over the latest military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow.

[Photo : YONHAP News]