Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho (R) meets with Elizabeth Salmon, the U.N. special rapporteur for North Korea’s human rights, at his office in Seoul on Sept. 11, 2023. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho met with the U.N. special rapporteur for North Korea’s human rights and vowed close cooperation to improve Pyongyang’s dismal rights records on Monday.
Elizabeth Salmon has been visiting South Korea since last Monday for a nine-day trip to meet with government officials, North Korean defectors and rights groups, as she will submit a report on the North’s rights issues to the U.N. based on the results of her trip.
“Seoul’s unification ministry is preparing for a roadmap aimed at improving North Korea’s human rights situation. If the roadmap is drawn up, I think this could be a chance for (the government) to further cooperate with Salmon,” Kim said, without elaborating.
Salmon said she expects the South Korean government’s role will help enhance North Korea’s human rights records, as it has large amounts of information on the North’s situation.
“I am very eager to work for cooperation with you and your government,” she said.
President Yoon Suk Yeol has taken a hard-line stance against the North’s provocative acts and has stressed the need to make the international community aware of North Korea’s human rights abuses.
In a related move, the ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs set up a task force this month to handle South Korean detainees, abductees and prisoners of war in North Korea.
(Yonhap)
