By Park Si-soo

A group of North Korean defectors filed a collective petition with the state human rights watchdog, Monday, demanding the agency investigate human rights violations by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

The National Human Rights Commission said 14 North Korean defectors and 7 family members of those kidnapped by the North filed the petition and the commission will soon launch an investigation into their claims.

They accused Kim as the primary perpetrator of the human rights violation against the North Korean people.

A complaint-gathering center operating under the control of the commission will lead the probe.

The center opened in early March as the first state agency specializing in human rights violations under the communist regime.

Commission Chairman Hyun Byung-chul said the investigation is meaningful in that it will allow the rest of the world to see how tragically human rights are abused in North Korea.

"We will thoroughly examine the cases and publicize the results worldwide," Hyun said.