UN rights envoy seeks North Korean leader’s prosecution

The United Nations human rights investigator for North Kor-ea called on Monday for leader Kim Jong-un and se-nior officials in the country to be prosecuted for committing crimes against humanity.

Marzuki Darusman told the UN Human Rights Council that North Korea is devoting huge resources to developing nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction while many of its citizens lack sufficient food and others work in “slave-like conditions”.

“We are now at a crucial stage, therefore there is a fundamental need for countries to make that next step in ensuring accountability is undertaken,” he said.

The delegation of the De-mocratic People’s Republic of Korea boycotted the session. The European Union, the US and Japan supported Mr Darusman’s call for accountability, although they did not refer to Mr Kim by name.

Ambassador Robert King, US envoy on North Korea, denounced the “egregious human rights violations committed by the DPRK” and said that the United States would work with other countries to “seek ways to advance accountability for those most responsible”. China, Pyongyang’s ally, took a more conciliatory tone, saying human rights issues should not be politicised and calling for a comprehensive approach to dealing with North Korea.

China also rejected Mr Darusman’s findings that North Koreans who flee across the border to China were being forced back to their homeland illegally.

Meanwhile, a minor 3.1 magnitude earthquake was detected in North Korea early Monday, South Kore-a’s state weather agency said, adding that there was no indication it was related to a nuclear test.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administra-tion, the quake struck near the southwestern North Korean city of Songlim.