United Nations: The UN Security Council will discuss human rights violations in North Korea on Friday despite opposition from China, Pyongyang's ally, diplomats said.
Beijing is expected to call for a procedural vote to block the meeting on North Korea - accused by a UN inquiry of committing atrocities unparalleled in the modern world – for the third consecutive year.
Nine council members - Britain, France, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain, Ukraine, the United States and Uruguay - requested the meeting, saying in a letter this week that they required information on the situation in North Korea "and its implications for international peace and security."
Beijing maintains that the regime's rights abuses do not pose a risk to global security, and that the issue should be taken up by the UN Human Rights Council.
China failed to stop the meeting in 2015, although Russia, Angola and Venezuela also voted in favor of dropping North Korea's rights abuses from the council agenda.
The council has held annual meetings on human rights in North Korea since 2014, with Pyongyang refusing to send a representative to the talks.
A UN commission of inquiry in 2014 found compelling evidence of torture, execution and starvation in North Korea, where between 80,000 and 120,000 are being held in prison camps.
In 2016, the meeting is likely to focus on forced labor and North Korea's diversion of resources to build up its missile and nuclear programs, a Security Council diplomat said.
UN member-states adopted a resolution at a General Assembly committee in November condemning rights abuses and expressing concern that funds needed to ease the dire humanitarian crisis were being spent on Pyongyang's military programs.
Although the General Assembly has encouraged the Security Council to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court for war-crimes investigation, China - which has a veto on the council - is likely to block any such move.
The meeting follows last week's adoption of tougher sanctions against North Korea, including new measures to curb Pyongyang's coal exports to China.
North Korea has been hit by six sets of UN sanctions since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006.
