News / Koreas

Seoul calls for criminal action against North Korea’s leader

Monday, 27 February 2017 9:09 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 28 February 2017 2:40 AM ]

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se looks on at the start of a working session of the Foreign Ministers of the G20 leading and developing economies at the World Conference Center in Bonn, western Germany, on February 17, 2017. (Photos by AFP)

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se has called for the criminal prosecution of North Korea’s leader before the human rights situation in the country threatens global security.

Yun made the call while addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council on in Geneva on Monday. He also condemned the alleged "assassination" of Kim Jong Nam, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half brother.

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He added that hundreds of Pyongyang officials had also been "openly or extrajudicial executed in North Korea not to mention the countless ordinary people."

“We all know who is ultimately responsible for the abuses and crimes," he added without further elaboration.

Citing UN statistics, he noted that around 120,000 people currently reside in North Korean jails. “We should act individually and collectively before the violation of human rights leads to a much bigger calamity," he added.

Yun went on to stress that the time has come to bring North Korea’s leadership and all those responsible for human rights violations in the country before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

This picture taken on February 22, 2017 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on February 23 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) visiting the People's Theater to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the State Merited Chorus in Pyongyang.

Malaysian police officials announced on February 14 that Kim Jong-nam had been attacked by two female assailants at the departure hall of Kuala Lumpur International Airport a day earlier. The arrested female attackers reportedly wiped some form of toxic agent over Kim’s face. He died en route to the hospital.

Jong-nam’s corpse underwent at least two autopsy operations by Malaysian forensic experts to determine what exactly caused his death. Pyongyang, however, on February 23 censured Kuala Lumpur for performing an “immoral and illegal” autopsy on the body and playing politics with the case. It, however, did not refer to the deceased by name.

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