Seoul to dedicate museum to Pyongyang's human rights violations

South Korea is set to open a museum in its capital, aimed at raising awareness about the violation of human rights in North Korea, the Ministry of Unification said on Friday.

The museum, set to open in 2019, will exhibit, through documents and photographs, different testimonies and cases of violation of basic human rights at the hands of the Kim Jong-un regime, Efe news reported.

Stories of various defectors' experiences before they left the insular state will comprise most of the documentation, a Unification Ministry spokesperson told Yonhap news agency.

The ministry, which is currently deciding on whether to directly manage the museum or indirectly through a foundation, launched the project following the passing of a related law in September 2016.

The law established the creation of a South Korean government agency to investigate and document the human rights situation in North Korea.

A report, published in 2014 by the UN Commission of Inquiry, conducted an in-depth analysis that reveals the systematic violations of human rights in North Korea.

The document exposes possible crimes against humanity such as extermination, murder, slavery, disappearances, summary executions, torture, sexual violence, forced abortions, deprivation of food, forced displacement of people, as well as political-, religious- and gender-motivated persecutions.

The report is based on the testimonies of 240 people, including 80 survivors of the labour camps known as "kwanliso".

--IANS

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