North Korea is urging UN Security Council members to block a US bid to hold a meeting on Pyongyang's human rights record, saying it would run counter to recent peace moves.
North Korean Ambassador Kim Song expressed "deep surprise and regret" that the council would "swim against the current trend" by holding the meeting tentatively requested for December 10, according to a letter sent to the council and seen by AFP on Tuesday.
If it goes ahead, it would be the fifth time that the council has held the annual meeting to discuss human rights violations in North Korea as a threat to international peace and security.
The United States has, every year since 2014, garnered the nine votes needed at the council to hold the meeting, despite opposition from China.
Every year, China has requested a procedural vote in an attempt to block the meeting, arguing that human rights should be discussed at the Geneva-based Human Rights Council and not at the Security Council.
The North Korean ambassador wrote that the meeting would "stoke confrontation, instead of encouraging and promoting the ongoing positive developments."
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