Robert King

The new U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues has reaffirmed that the U.S. will not normalize relations with the North unless it improves the treatment of its people. Robert King was speaking at the State Department on Friday in his first meeting with reporters since he started the job.

King said the U.S. enactment of the North Korean Human Rights Act reflects these concerns, while the six-party nuclear talks are a step into the future of U.S.-North Korea relations.

"The six-party talks are not just one little narrow box" but can discuss other agendas, he added.

Unlike his predecessor Jay Lefkowitz, a political appointee who was seen as largely ineffectual and ill-informed, King occupies the post full-time, playing a part in policy-making and implementation. King said he discusses policy with Sung Kim, the special envoy on North Korean affairs, several times a day and meets Stephen Bosworth, the part-time special representative for North Korea policy, whenever he is available.

His office is next door to those of Bosworth and Kim in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs on the sixth floor of the State Department building.

The situation of North Koreans has deteriorated even further since a disastrous currency reform late last year because markets have closed and it has become hard to find food, King said.

King also called for attention to increasing corruption in North Korea as the State Department's annual report on human rights released on March 11 found, which he believes make the life of North Koreans even harder.