UN human rights experts have called for an international inquiry into rights abuses in North Korea.
Marzuki Darusman, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, said in Geneva that investigators should look into "grave, systematic, and widespread violations of human rights" in the communist country.
The experts said "extremely serious and disturbing" reports about rights violations are coming from the reclusive state and called for "a robust independent international inquiry" into the allegations.
Darusman said he will present a detailed report on the human rights situation in North Korea to the UN Human Rights Council on March 11.
The group said it sent a letter to Pyongyang in October, demanding explanations on the apparent existence of labor camps for political prisoners, but never received a response.