Second Vice Foreign Minister Kang In-sun delivers a keynote speech at the 58th U.N. Human Rights Council High-Level Segment in Geneva, Switzerland, in this photo provided by the Korean foreign ministry, Feb. 25. Yonhap

A Korean vice foreign minister has emphasized that growing military cooperation between Russia and North Korea is further complicating the already dire human rights situation in the reclusive regime, the ministry said Wednesday.

Second Vice Foreign Minister Kang In-sun made the remarks during the high-level segment of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday (local time), amid deepening military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang with North Korea's troop deployment in support of Russia's war in Ukraine.

Kang "expressed continued concern over North Korea's dire human rights situation, highlighting the issue is increasingly intertwined with international peace and security, particularly due to its illicit military cooperation with Russia," the ministry said.

Kang also voiced concerns over the inhumane treatment of North Korean defectors who were forcibly repatriated, calling on countries to abide by the international principle of not forcing refugees back to countries where they face the risk of persecution, known as the principle of non-refoulement.

She also urged North Korea to immediately release Korean detainees in the North and offer an immediate solution to the issues of all abductees and Korean prisoners of war.

While in Geneva, Kang met with key officials of related U.N bodies, including Filippo Grandi, commissioner of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and Nada al-Nashif, U.N. deputy high commissioner for human rights.

With Grandi, they assessed the active role of the UNHCR in addressing the refugee crisis across the globe and discussed ways for South Korea to expand its contribution to the issue.

In the meeting with al-Nashif, Kang discussed efforts to enhance cooperation between Seoul and the U.N. human rights office, including ways to improve the North's human rights conditions, as well as South Korea's plans as a UNHRC member for the 2025-27 period, the ministry said. (Yonhap)