A/HRC/42/10 Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. 117. Thailand welcomed the continued engagement with the universal periodic review mechanism and some treaty bodies and special procedures. 118. Timor-Leste noted with appreciation the establishment of the National Committee for the Implementation of the International Human Rights Treaties and the National Committee for the Protection of Persons with Disabilities. 119. The delegation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea stressed that the State had put in place an elaborate and well-developed health-care system. All services were provided free of charge. The State had prioritized enhancement of the quality of medical services, including through the Midterm Strategy for the Development of the Health Sector (2016–2020). Significant resources had been devoted to upgrading health facilities, including at the county level. The State was making efforts to ensure an adequate supply of medicines. 120. To address the issue of malnutrition, the State had extended the period of maternity leave and standard food had been provided to women and children. The Strategy and Action Plan to Control Child and Maternal Malnutrition and the Education Strategy for Reproductive Health had been implemented. 121. On the issue of abductions, there had been no abducted foreign nationals other than Japanese in the country to date. The issue had been fundamentally and completely resolved thanks to the country’s sincere efforts under the Pyongyang Declaration of September 2002 between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Japan. 122. The biggest obstacle in the State’s efforts for the promotion and protection of human rights were the sanctions of the Security Council and the unilateral sanctions imposed by several countries. The real victims of the sanctions were children, women, older persons and persons with disabilities. The sanctions should be lifted immediately. 123. The State was conducting wide-ranging consultations with all stakeholders on the issue of accession to international conventions that it had not yet ratified. The State was not opposed to the objectives and requirements of those conventions and reflected them in domestic laws and implemented them to suit its reality. It would also continue to maintain close cooperation with treaty bodies and implement their recommendations, as appropriate. 124. Regarding cooperation with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the State categorically rejected the “resolution” and the “Special Rapporteur” and would continue to do so. The “Special Rapporteur” was a political tool of the hostile forces, submitting annual reports to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly that disparaged and slandered the country based on the false testimonies of the “defectors”. It also rejected the report of the commission of inquiry (A/HRC/25/63). 125. The State highly valued dialogue and cooperation for the promotion and protection of human rights, in particular through the universal periodic review mechanism. II. Conclusions and/or recommendations 126. The following recommendations will be examined by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which will provide responses in due time, but no later than the forty-second session of the Human Rights Council: 126.1 Continue to consider the possibility of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea acceding to other international human rights treaties (Belarus); 126.2 Consider ratifying the international human rights instruments to which it is not yet a party (Plurinational State of Bolivia); Consider ratifying other core human rights instruments, to which it has not become a party (Indonesia); 9

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