Written by Kwanwoo Jun | From The Wall Street Journal

Abysmal human rights conditions in North Korea have cost Pyongyang its 40-year diplomatic relationship with Botswana.

The foreign ministry of land-locked Botswana, immediately north of South Africa, said in an undated statement on its website that the nation had cut all diplomatic ties with North Korea because of human rights abuses by Pyongyang.

Botswana linked the decision to a recent United Nations report on widespread crimes against humanity in North Korea.

“The Government’s decision is informed by the recently released report of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea which details systematic, widespread and grave human rights violations by North Korean authorities,” the statement said.

“The Government of Botswana does not wish to be associated with a Government which continues to display such total disregard for the human rights of its citizens,” it said.

Read more at The Wall Street Journal