UN Rapporteur on N.Korean Human Rights Visits Seoul

The UN special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea visited South Korea on Monday and urged Seoul to press Pyongyang on human rights issues.

Tomás Ojea Quintana asked Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun what the South Korean government's strategy is in discussing human rights issues with North Korea. Seoul has been criticized by U.S. lawmakers for failing to address North Korea's egregious human rights violations in cross-border talks.

Quintana pointed out that the word "prosperity" features in both the joint statements signed after the inter-Korean and U.S.-North Korea summits, and said that must include economic, social and political rights.

He said he understands the difficulties of addressing the human rights issue in meetings with North Korea and added this is the reason he came to listen to the South Korean government's strategy.