UN probe to keep pressing for North Korea cooperation

The head of a new U.N. probe into alleged human rights abuses in North Korea said he's hopeful the country might reverse its opposition to cooperating, AP reported. The probe's chairman, Australian retired judge Michael Kirby, says it will send a letter Friday requesting the country's cooperation with the formal U.N. probe. The 47-nation U.N. Human Rights Council, prodded by the United States, Japan, and the European Union, authorized an investigation in March into what U.N. officials describe as suspected widespread and systematic violations of human rights in North Korea. A three-member panel of U.N.-appointed experts - Kirby, Marzuki Darusman of Indonesia, and Sonja Biserko of Serbia - began its work this week in Geneva and is due to report its findings in March.