A UN General Assembly committee has adopted a resolution urging North Korea to immediately return all the foreign nationals it has abducted. The resolution has now been passed for 18 consecutive years.

The resolution says the UN condemns in the strongest terms the long-standing, systematic violations of human rights by the North.

It also expresses serious concerns about the grave suffering inflicted on those who have involuntarily disappeared as well as on their families.

The document was submitted by the European Union and co-sponsored by more than 60 countries, including Japan and South Korea. It was adopted by consensus on Wednesday by the committee on human rights after no member requested a vote.

Japanese Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Yamanaka Osamu said, "the families of the victims have well advanced in age and many of them have passed away without opportunities seeing their loved ones again." He added, "There is not a moment to lose."

China and Russia said they would not support the resolution.

North Korean Ambassador to the UN Kim Song rejected the resolution, describing it as a "political provocation" that's repeated every year. He then left the session before the resolution was adopted.