Photo : YONHAP News
A number of government officials in Seoul met with the visiting U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights, Julie Turner, for talks on bilateral coordination aimed at improving the North’s human rights situation.
According to Seoul’s foreign ministry, Vice Minister for Strategy and Intelligence Cho Koo-rae proposed that the two sides continue to seek ways to investigate Pyongyang’s responsibility for the rights infringements during talks with Turner on Thursday.
Expressing agreement, Turner said she was being accompanied by Beth Van Schaack, the State Department’s Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, for substantial discussions.
The South Korean vice minister also sought Washington’s interest and active efforts toward approval of an extension on the U.S. North Korean Human Rights Act.
During talks between Seoul’s Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs Kweon Ki-hwan and Turner and Schaack on Friday, the two sides agreed to closely coordinate efforts during the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of the North next month.