U.N. committee to examine human rights of children in N. Korea

GENEVA, Jan. 23 (Yonhap) -- A United Nations committee is set to question North
Korean officials on Friday about the communist country's policy on protecting the
human rights of children in the country, the first such session since 2004.

The one-day session on North Korea conducted by the U.N. Committee on the Rights
of the Child in Geneva is the third of its kind after similar sessions in 1998
and 2004 looking into malnutrition, infant mortality and budget cuts related to
children's welfare.
The committee's review is expected to become a guideline for a possible
resolution on North Korea's human rights if it is put to a vote at the U.N.
General Assembly later this year.
North Korea, a member of the U.N. Convention of the Rights of the Child,
submitted a report in January 2008 saying the country pushed forward economic
construction that helped enhance children's welfare. But the report also noted
the 2001-2007 period under review posed a time of trial for the North with
security threats, in an apparent note to largely frayed relations with the United
States and Japan.
"The period under review was a period in which the DPRK went through a harsh
trial due to the unfavorable developments that gravely threatened the security of
the country," the report said, using the acronym for the North's official name,
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Still, "the government has invariably maintained the principle that children
represent the future of the country and are the king of the country," it said.
A panel of 18 international experts will examine the report and will pose
questions to a North Korean government delegation during the open session, the
U.N. committee said in statements.
The U.N. committee on the rights of children holds such sessions annually, with
this year's meeting focusing on conditions in North Korea and five other
countries, including the Congo and Malawi.
With non-governmental organizations in North Korea virtually nonexistent, the
U.N. committee refers to international organizations to verify the North's
claims.
North Korean defectors' organizations in South Korea recently flew to Geneva to
provide their account of the human rights situation in North Korea.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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