A/HRC/28/71 8. In September 2014, during the twenty-seventh session of the Human Rights Council, the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea announced that it had accepted 113 recommendations out of the 268 made in the context of its second universal periodic review, held in May 2014. Most of the recommendations accepted pertained to the fulfilment of economic and social rights (the rights to food, water and sanitation, health and education) and the rights of vulnerable groups (women, children and people with disabilities).1 This was a notable improvement over the lack of collaboration extended during and after the first cycle of the review. As with the recommendations accepted under the first cycle, the Special Rapporteur believes that these new recommendations present tangible opportunities for engagement by Member States and all parties concerned, including United Nations agencies and civil society, to facilitate and verify their implementation. The Government failed, however, to accept any recommendations relating to the findings of the commission of inquiry, which the Special Rapporteur suggests is indicative of the “reality gap” in the engagement of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea with the Council. 9. On 27 October 2014, on the eve of the presentation of his annual report to the Third Committee of the General Assembly, the Special Rapporteur met, at his request, a delegation of senior officials from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. This was the first time that officials from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea had agreed to meet the mandate holder since the establishment of the mandate a decade previously. During the meeting, the senior officials invited the Special Rapporteur to undertake a country visit in the near future, under the condition, however, that two operative paragraphs contained in the draft resolution on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea be removed. The first paragraph (para. 7) related to the accountability for crimes against humanity of the highest authorities in the country. The second paragraph (para. 8) pertained to a possible referral by the Security Council of the situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the International Criminal Court. The Special Rapporteur, who has made repeated requests to be invited to visit the country, responded that he should be invited irrespective of the adoption of the resolution. 10. On 18 November 2014, the Third Committee of the General Assembly adopted a resolution on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea with an overwhelmingly large majority: 111 Member States voted in favour, 19 against and 55 abstained. An amendment introduced to remove the aforementioned operative paragraphs was rejected by a majority of 77 votes, with 40 votes in favour and 50 abstentions. 11. In two letters dated 24 and 28 November 2014 addressed to the Secretary-General, the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea firmly denounced the adoption of the resolution. 2 12. In a letter dated 5 December 2014 addressed to the President of the Security Council, 10 members of the Security Council requested that the situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea be formally placed on the Council’s agenda, and in that regard also requested a meeting on the situation. They stated that they were “particularly concerned by the scale and gravity of human rights violations detailed in the comprehensive report undertaken by the Human Rights Council commission of inquiry … These violations 1 2 4 Report of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (A/HRC/25/63). Annexes to the letters dated 24 and 28 November 2014 from the Permanent Representative of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General (A/69/616–S/2014/849 and A/69/623–S/2014/855).