MOSCOW, November 10 (RIA Novosti) — The UN optional protocol on the protection of children has been ratified by the North Korean government, the country's state-run news agency KCNA reported Monday.
The ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, calling for the prohibition of children trafficking, prostitution and pornography, is a "demonstration of the government's policy of attaching importance to the children and a manifestation of its will to fulfill its commitment and promote international cooperation in the field of human rights," KCNA said.
The corresponding decree was signed by the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly on November 5.
The optional protocol was adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by the UN General Assembly in May 2000.
It is optional to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was signed in November 1989 and became effective in September 1990. The convention itself was signed and ratified by North Korea in 1990. The only three countries that have not ratified the convention are Somalia, South Sudan and the United States.
