N.Korea wants to attend US-led meeting on human rights

North Korea has requested to participate in the U.S.-led talks on the North's human rights record, the first-ever ministerial meeting to be held by the United Nations on this topic.

Pyongyang's U.N. Ambassador Ja Song-nam said on Monday that he is awaiting an answer from the United States for the meeting scheduled for today in New York.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is to host the high-level talks, aimed to attract global support for a U.N. resolution on human rights record in the secretive communist North. The meeting will be held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

Ja said North Korea wants to attend, because the discussion revolves around his country. He added that if Washington sincerely wants to resolve this matter through dialogue, there is no reason to oppose Pyongyang's request.

Meanwhile, Ja brushed aside the possibility of holding talks with his South Korean counterpart during the U.N. session.