SEOUL, An association of civic groups on Wednesday welcomed the South Korean government's recommendation at a United Nations review session urging China to protect the human rights of North Korean defectors in the country. On Tuesday, Yun Seong-deok, the South Korean ambassador to the U.N. office in Geneva, called on Beijing to provide North Korean defectors with the required protections and humanitarian support at China's fourth universal periodic review (UPR) held under the auspices of the United Nations Human Rights Council. It marked the first time for South Korea to raise the human rights issue at the U.N. peer-review process against China. The UPR is a mechanism that calls for each U.N. member state to go through a peer review of its human rights record every 4.5 years. The NGO Council for North Korean Human Rights, an association of 61 rights groups based in South Korea and abroad, welcomed the move and called on China to swiftly implement the recommendation. The organization said South Korea has put forward to the international community and China a diplomatic stance denouncing China's disregard for international norms and urging China to respect the principle of non-refoulement, which guarantees that no one should be returned to a country where they would face the risk of persecution. As Pyongyang's key ally, China does not recognize North Korean defectors as refugees and regularly repatriates them to their home country, where they could face harsh punishment. Last year, South Korean human rights groups said China forcibly sent hundreds of North Korean defectors from its northeastern border regions back to the North. The South Korean government has confirmed the repatriation did take place, without specifying the number of those who were repatriated. Source: Yonhap News Agency