An employee of the Kyonghung Foodstuff General Store disinfects the showroom countertops in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Nov. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Cha Song Ho)

       NEW YORK (Kyodo) -- A U.N. panel on Wednesday adopted a Japan- and European Union-led draft resolution rapping North Korea over its domestic human rights violations, including the abduction of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s.

       A similar resolution has now been adopted annually by the Third Committee of the U.N. General Assembly for the past 17 years. It is likely to be formally endorsed at the General Assembly in December.

       The draft resolution calls for "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.

       The document also expresses "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 demands that North Korea "faithfully provide accurate and detailed information" to the families of the abductees regarding their fates and whereabouts.

       The draft resolution also points out that ongoing border closures by North Korea to prevent the spread of the coronavirus "have led to food insecurity, severe hunger, malnutrition, widespread health problems and other hardship for the population" in the country, particularly affecting women, children and political prisoners.

       It condemns North Korea for "pursuing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles over the welfare of its people."

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