Members of the United Nations Security Council stand for a moment of silence as they start a session at U.N. Headquarters in N.Y., April 17. AP-Yonhap

The U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution on North Korean human rights for the 20th consecutive year, calling for improvement in the reclusive state's human rights record.

The adoption by consensus came as Seoul and Washington have stressed the importance of improvement in the North's human rights environment on the grounds that a repressive political climate has led the regime to continue to pursue its weapons development programs without allowing for public comment.

The General Assembly has adopted the resolution annually since 2005 to shine a light on human rights violations in North Korea and renew international calls for Pyongyang to tackle the issue.

This year's resolution stressed the need for the international community to address the North's situation in a unified manner and expressed concerns over the North's declaration not to pursue reunification with South Korea.

It also called for Pyongyang to repeal its practices and laws that suppress people's freedom of thought, expression and religion.

The resolution included a request for the General Assembly's president to organize a high-level plenary meeting, featuring testimony by civil society representatives and other experts, to address the human rights abuses being committed in the North.

As expected, Pyongyang responded to the resolution furiously.

"The delegation of the DPRK condemns in the strongest terms and totally rejects the draft resolution on the situation of the human rights in the DPRK submitted to this meeting by the European Union as a grave politically motivated provocation aimed at violating the dignity and sovereignty of our state," North Korean Ambassador to the U.N. Kim Song said. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"The draft resolution, tabled by the European Union, is nothing but a political plot and anti-DPRK confrontational document totally fabricated with falsehood and distorted information by hostile forces." (Yonhap)