The UN Human Rights Council has called on North Korea to reveal the realities of life there, pointing out the country's dismal human rights record. At the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, the majority of the 47-nation council accused the communist state of widespread rights abuses such as forced child labor, public executions and torture and criticized the lack of transparency about human rights conditions.
A North Korean representative defended the state in the three-hour session, blaming natural disasters and international aggression for economic difficulties and saying that public executions are carried out at the request of victims' families.