|
U.S. envoy urges N. Korea to improve human rights record
North Korea should improve its human rights situation if it wants better ties with the United States, a U.S. special envoy said Friday.
''The relationship between the United States and North Korea is very much going to be affected and influenced by North Korea's record on human rights,'' Robert King, special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, told reporters.
Asked if human rights could be put on the agenda of the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program, King said the issue will be taken up once the suspended negotiations resume and progress is made in denuclearization of the country.
''At this point, what we need to do is restart the six-party talks,'' the envoy said, adding the primary focus of the talks is denuclearization.
But after the six-party process is back on track, there will be an opportunity for all kinds of other issues including human rights to be addressed, King said.
''The six-party talks are not just one little narrow box,'' he said.
King also said the United States will support Tokyo's efforts to resolve the abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents. The six-party talks involve North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.
Describing human rights conditions in North Korea as ''deplorable,'' the envoy said, ''We need to make sure that people understand that we are watching, we are paying attention, that we are concerned.''
In an annual human rights report released Thursday, the U.S. government criticized what it called serious infringements of human rights in North Korea.
(2010-03-13 / iStockAnalyst)
|
首頁 
聯絡我們
