South Korea on Friday welcomed a U.N. decision to adopt a resolution that calls for improvement in the human rights situations in North Korea.

Earlier, the U.N. Human Rights Council adopted the resolution, criticizing the communist country for violating the human rights of its citizens.

It was proposed by the European Union and Japan during a session in Geneva, with such issues as political prisoners and discrimination based on family background also touched upon.

"We welcome the adoption of the resolution on human rights in North Korea in which about 50 countries including South Korea joined as co-sponsors," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry praised that the resolution placed emphasis on resolving the issue of the reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.

The ministry called on the North to follow the recommendations by the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on the reunion issue and others, while urging Pyongyang to take necessary steps to improve the human rights situations.
The North had denounced the U.N. resolution for fabricating its human rights conditions and called it a political provocation and a tactic aimed at stirring confrontation. (Yonhap)