A group of U.S. and South Korean civic groups plans to start a North Korea human rights week next month in Seoul, an organizer said Tuesday, amid deepening worries over the communist state's persistent maltreatment of its impoverished people.
The annual advocacy program has been held in either Seoul or Washington since it began in 2004. Kim Seong-min, an organizer, said this year's activity will be held in Seoul from April 24-May 1.
The civic groups, which include the U.S.-based North Korea Freedom Coalition and a number of North Korean defectors' organizations here, will team up with South Korean lawmakers to call for the prompt passage of a law calling for the improvement of human rights in the isolated North, Kim said.
The activists are also planning to hold an exhibition of photos and movies that depict the reality of North Korea, which is said to run a wide network of prison camps to crush dissent, Kim said.
Earlier this month, the U.N. Human Rights Council passed a resolution condemning North Korea for its dismal human rights records, prompting Pyongyang to issue a blistering rebuttal.
China, North Korea's top political and economic benefactor, has voted against the resolution. Kim said the activists plan to visit the Chinese embassy in Seoul in protest of Beijing's alleged condoning of Pyongyang's repressive rule over its 24 million people.