N. Korean top diplomat returns home after boycotting U.N. forum

SEOUL, March 8 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's foreign minister returned home Tuesday, after boycotting a United Nations human rights meeting which kicked off last week, the Korean Central News Agency said

Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong had left Pyongyang for Geneva to join the U.N. Human Rights Council, scheduled to run through March 24, but later boycotted the session, saying it was politically contaminated.

He said in a speech in Geneva that because Pyongyang possesses a powerful nuclear and military deterrent, the United States and others had no other choice but to make an issue out of the country's human rights record.

Ri said the DPRK will respond resolutely to any person or country that uses human rights as a political tool.

The DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.
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