



"For South Koreans, people in North Korea are not just anybodies," said Oh Joon, South Korea's United Nations (U.N.) Ambassador, touching the hearts of Security Council members. "Millions of South Koreans still have our family members and relatives living in the North."



On the day he spoke, Monday, the Security Council adopted North Korea's human rights issue as part of its official agenda, which by coincidence, was the issue that South Korea raised two years ago in its first debate as a non-permanent member of the council.



The South Korean envoy, the last speaker of the day, said he hoped the Security Council would be remembered for doing the "right thing" for North Koreans, who should have the same human rights as other people.



"Even though we never hear from them, by now, the pain of separation has become a cold fact of life, just a few hundred kilometers away from where we live," Oh said.



"We cannot read what is described in the Commission of Inquiry (COI) report without it breaking our heart. We cannot listen to stories of North Korean defectors without sharing in their tears, without feeling as if we are there, with them, experiencing the tragedies."



The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Samantha Power, reportedly sent a text to Oh saying his speech was the most powerful speech she had heard at the Security Council.



