The special rapporteur on North Korean human rights Friday voiced concerns that U.N. Security Council's sanctions imposed on the country for its nuclear weapons program are having an impact on the civilian population.

"I am committed to address the possibility of (the) negative impact of sanctions coming from the Security Council into the livelihood of ordinary people of the DPRK," Tomas Ojea Quintana said at a press conference, referring to the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The council has imposed a series of increasingly biting sanctions resolutions since 2006 in efforts to choke off funding that the leadership is using to fuel its banned weapons programs. The last resolution, adopted in September following the country's sixth and largest nuclear test, hit across new sectors including coal, iron, seafood and textiles.