World
North Korea has held a rare briefing at the U.N. to discuss its recent report on its own human rights situation. The BBC writes:
An official acknowledged the country runs labour camps to "reform" detainees, but dismissed criticism of its rights record as "wild rumours".
A UN report released in February said North Korea was committing "unspeakable atrocities" against its own people on a vast scale. The country is thought to hold tens of thousands of people in prison camps.
Official Choe Myong Nam told the briefing - which was open to reporters and foreign diplomats - that there were "no prison camps" operating in North Korea but there were "detention centres where people are improved through their mentality and look on their wrongdoings".
He said North Korea was a "transition society" and as such "there might be some problems, for example in the economic and other areas, we may need to establish more houses and social facilities in order to provide people with better living conditions".
He blamed North Korea's economic situation on "external forces", Reuters reports, in an apparent reference to the stringent international sanctions the country is under as a result of its repeated nuclear and ballistic missile tests in recent years. As the country moved forward "the enjoyment of the people will be further expanded", Mr Choe said.
Meanwhile, North Koreans lined the streets of Pyongyang to welcome home athletes from the Asian Games – but sports-fanatic Kim Jong-un, who is believed to be ill, was not among them. The Guardian reports:
Senior officials from the Workers’ party and the military welcomed the athletes at the airport on Sunday, state media said, but there was no mention of Kim attending.
North Korea’s leader has not been seen in public for more than a month, prompting speculation about his health.
However, officials on a surprise visit to South Korea denied on Sunday that there was anything wrong with him.
Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans came out on to the streets to greet the athletes who took part in the games in South Korea, state media reports said. North Korea’s 150 athletes won 11 gold medals and 25 silver and bronze in the country’s best Asian Games performance since 1990.
The North Koreans were widely cheered by South Korean crowds at the event in Incheon even though the two countries remain technically at war. Each athlete left the plane at Pyongyang airport wrapped in a North Korean flag.
North Korea’s women footballers, who beat Japan 1-0 in the Asian Games final, led the cavalcade, according to the reports.
