This file photo shows the U.N. General Assembly in New York. (Pool photo)
NEW YORK (Kyodo) -- The U.N. General Assembly on Thursday adopted a resolution condemning human rights abuses in North Korea, including the abduction of Japanese citizens decades ago, marking the 17th year in a row a document like it has been endorsed.
The resolution, submitted by the European Union with Japan among the co-sponsors, stresses "the urgency and importance of the issue of international abductions, which involves a serious violation of human rights, and of the immediate return of all abductees," referring to those abducted from Japan and South Korea.
But Kim Song, North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations, rejected the resolution, saying in a speech before the document was adopted that there were no human rights problems in his country.
A representative of China, North Korea's primary benefactor, also refused to support the resolution and said the nation is against pressuring other countries over human rights abuse claims.
The resolution, which is not legally binding, also expressed "grave concern at the long years of severe suffering experienced by abductees and their families, and the lack of any concrete or positive action" by North Korea to resolve the situation.
It demanded Pyongyang "faithfully provide accurate and detailed information" to the families of the abductees regarding their fates and whereabouts.
The Japanese government officially lists 17 citizens as abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s and suspects Pyongyang's involvement in other disappearances of Japanese nationals. But North Korea maintains that the issue is "already resolved."
The resolution also condemned the North for "pursuing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles over the welfare of its people," and expressed concern that its population, particularly women, children and political prisoners, is experiencing hardships over border closures due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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