North Korea said on Wednesday that it was working to uphold women's rights and gender equality but that sanctions imposed by major powers were taking a toll on vulnerable families.

Han Tae Song, ambassador of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to the United Nations in Geneva, also urged South Korea to return 12 waitresses "kidnapped" while working in China in April 2016, calling it a "crime against humanity.

Seoul has said the 12 women and one man had chosen to defect to the South.