It is the consistent and unwavering stand of the DPRK to set the protection and promotion of the rights of the children as one of the primary principles of the State activities and to provide them with the best of everything, he said, and went on:

Over the past 70 years since its founding, the DPRK has creditably fulfilled its duty and role as the protector of the rights of the child through providing in its Constitution the issue of protecting the rights of the child and adopting a number of national and social welfare policies.

I avail myself of this opportunity to call your attention to the grave challenges faced by the DPRK in protecting the rights of children due to the sanctions imposed by the U.S. and other hostile forces, including those of the UN Security Council.

As you are aware, it is the children in any country that are the most vulnerable to economic blockade and sanction.

The persistent and vicious blockade and sanction against the DPRK are not only hampering the endeavors for promotion and protection of the rights of the children but also seriously threatening their right to survival.

Currently, such sanctions are giving negative impact not only to the production of textbooks and school materials but also to the production sectors for child nutrition.

Moreover, most of the cooperation activities between the DPRK and child-related international organizations and humanitarian actors are shrinking in scope or prohibited.

Such inhumane sanctions against the DPRK constitute despicable violations of the ideal of humanitarianism and the spirit of the Convention on the Right of Child. They must be lifted without any conditions and without delay.