The United Nations main human rights forum called on Friday for the U.N. Security Council to hold accountable those committing documented crimes against humanity in North Korea.
The Geneva forum, by a vote of 30 states in favor, six against, with 11 abstaining, adopted a resolution brought by Japan and the European Union (EU) which North Korea rejected earlier, saying "Mind your own business".
The U.N. Human Rights Council also extended the mandate of its human rights investigator on North Korea, Marzuki Darusman, by one year and agreed to establish a field office to help him collect more evidence and testimony.
North Korea's ambassador told the United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday to "mind your own business" during a debate on crimes against humanity documented in his country by U.N. investigators.
So Se Pyong, North Korea's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, speaking in response to unprecedented criticism of its human rights record, also said that "cooperation can never be compatible with confrontation".
Members of the UN Security Council on Thursday condemned North Korea's recent ballistic missile launch as a violation of UN resolutions and will continue discussions on an "appropriate response", the council president said.
The remarks were made by Luxembourg's UN Ambassador Sylvie Lucas, president of the 15-nation Security Council for the month of March, after a closed-door meeting on North Korea requested by the United States.
"Members of the Security Council condemned this launch as a violation of Security Council resolution(s)," she said. "Council members agreed to consult on an appropriate response."
"There was unanimous condemnation of the launches," Lucas told reporters, adding that, "We also all agreed that this response should be given quickly."
North Korea fired two medium-range Rodong ballistic missiles into the sea at 2:35 a.m. Japan and Korea time on Wednesday (1735 GMT Tuesday), Tokyo and Seoul said.
North Korea's first firing in four years of mid-range missiles that can hit Japan followed a series of short-range rocket launches over the past two months.
Several council diplomats said negotiations on possible council action would likely continue into next week.
There is a possibility, the diplomats said, of the Security Council's North Korea sanctions committee expanding the current UN blacklist to include additional North Korean entities involved in Pyongyang's missile program. But they said it could take weeks to reach agreement.
"That (expanding the blacklist) would be an appropriate response by the council," a Western diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "The first step will be some kind of more formal statement condemning the launch."
The ability of the council to take such steps will depend on China, a veto-wielding council member and North Korea's traditional ally and most significant trading partner. Beijing issued a muted response to the North Korean launch on Thursday.
"In the present situation, all sides ought to dedicate themselves to maintaining peace and stability on the Korean peninsula," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a regular briefing.
REUTERS