The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights confirmed

yesterday it is looking to establish a field office for the purpose

of documenting human rights violations in North Korea.

The announcement comes after the UN Human Rights Council floated a number of

recommendations on the 28th in light of recent findings released by the Commission of

Inquiry into human rights in North Korea.

Foreign ministry representative Jo Tae Yong told press on

the 8th that South Korea’s stance was to consider the option “should

the UN and international community demand it,” saying that the government “respects universal humane values and remains consistently supportive of the UN’s

resolutions on North Korea.”

Saenuri Party lawmaker Ha Tae Kyung today criticized the

stance, deeming the response weak in comparison to previous governmental efforts in attracting UN offices to South Korea.

“It would be completely unacceptable for a UN office that investigates

and documents North Korean human rights abuses to be in any country except for South

Korea. The establishment of [the office] in South Korea is clearly the obvious

choice,” he said, further pointing out that the majority of North Korean defectors reside

in the South.

“The South must state if they would like [the field office]

or not; the member states of the UN Human Rights Council will not ‘demand’ they

do anything.”