North Korea threatens strong response to US rights meeting

North Korea says it will respond “very strongly” to a conference in Washington on Tuesday about its widespread human rights abuses and says the United States ignored Pyongyang’s offer to attend and defend itself. Puzzled conference organizers said the event was open to the public. North Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Jang Il Hun told reporters Monday his country has asked the U.S. government to “immediately scrap the so-called conference” hosted by the nonprofit Center for Strategic & International Studies. Speakers include Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues.

We issued no specific invitations to anyone.

Victor Cha, Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies

Nuclear-armed North Korea has been on the defensive ever since a groundbreaking U.N. commission of inquiry detailed vast rights abuses there. International pressure behind last year’s report led the U.N. Security Council to place the issue on its agenda of matters of international peace and security. North Korea and the United States do not have formal diplomatic relations, but an official is tasked with communicating through the so-called “New York channel” that the country’s U.N. mission uses to reach out to U.S. officials.

I find it encouraging that North Korea is paying attention to a conference commemorating one year since the release of the report, since they’ve been unwilling to accept the commission of inquiry.

Greg Scarlatoiu, spokesman for the Washington-based Committee for Human Rights in North Korea

Politics North Korea