N. Korea Comes Up for Human Rights Review at the U.N.

North Korea’s “universal periodic review” before the U.N. Human Rights Council began today in Geneva. Nothing much will come of it, I suspect, but at least the human rights story will get a bit of media attention, and North Korea will be just a little more toxic to potential investors.

“There is a difference between wanting to be isolated and not caring about the rest of the world. North Korea cares about the world and therefore it wants to be isolated,” said B.R. Myers, an expert on the North’s ideology at Dongseo University.

North Korea’s leaders have assured stability in the reclusive state by instilling a sense of paranoid nationalism and carrying out massive human rights abuses, experts say.

“Any mistreatment or disrespect by the U.N. is one of those things the regime has used always to whip its people’s ethnic paranoia,” Myers said.

The review may also boost efforts to have Kim Jong Il indicted for crimes against humanity, an effort that I expect will have about the same consequence (not much, but better than nothing).

Related: Meanwhile, in our latest episode of the Jimmy Carter dementia watch, Carter praises His Pickled Majesty and becomes an official North Korean propaganda source.