UN recruiting new special rapporteur for North Korea human rights

Tomas Ojea Quintana, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, speaks at a Korea Press Club in Seoul on Feb. 23. Korea Times file

The human rights body of the United Nations is recruiting a new special rapporteur for North Korea's human rights and plans to name the successor in June, its website said Sunday.

The successful candidate will be announced at the 50th session of the U.N. Human Rights Council slated to kick off on June 13, according to the website.

The new candidate, if selected, will replace Tomas Ojea Quintana, who has served in the position since 2016, and formally assume the post from August.

The special rapporteur position was first created in 2004 to investigate and report to the U.N. Human Rights Council and General Assembly on the human rights situation in the reclusive regime in light of international human rights law.

The rapporteur can serve up to six years based on renewal on an annual basis. Quintana, an Argentine lawyer and human rights expert, succeeded Marzuki Darusman of Indonesia as the special rapporteur for North Korea in 2016. (Yonhap)