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| Image: Flickr User - FabienA380 |
The UN Security Council will discuss human rights violations in North Korea on Friday despite opposition from China, Pyongyang's ally, diplomats said.
Beijing is expected to call for a procedural vote to block the meeting on North Korea -- accused by a UN inquiry of committing atrocities unparalleled in the modern world -- for the third consecutive year.
Nine council members -- Britain, France, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain, Ukraine, the United States and Uruguay -- requested the meeting, saying in a letter this week that they required information on the situation in North Korea "and its implications for international peace and security."
Beijing maintains that the regime's rights abuses do not pose a risk to global security, and that the issue should be taken up by the UN Human Rights Council.
China failed to stop the meeting last year, although Russia, Angola and Venezuela also voted in favor of dropping North Korea's rights abuses from the council agenda.
The council has held annual meetings on human rights in North Korea since 2014, with Pyongyang refusing to send a representative to the talks.
Read the full story at SpaceDaily