N. Korea should improve human rights for better ties with U.S.: envoy

SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea should improve its human rights conditions
if it wants significant progress in building better relations with the United
States, Washington's special envoy on the issue said Thursday.
"Respect for human rights by the DPRK will have a significant impact on the
prospect for closer ties with the United States," Robert King, special envoy for
North Korea human rights issues, said in a statement released at a forum in
Seoul. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the communist
state's official name.
North Korea has been labeled as one of the worst human rights violators in the
world.
The totalitarian regime tolerates no dissent and strictly restricts outside
information. It operates a number of political prison camps, punishing those who
try to flee the country to escape hunger and oppression while diverting its
scarce resources into developing nuclear arms and other weapons of mass
destruction.
Efforts by the isolated state to redress such behavior "will be necessary for
North Korea to fully participate in the international community," King said in
the statement, which was read by an aide as he was unable to attend the forum
jointly organized by the National Endowment for Democracy and a South Korean
think tank.
Calling on participants to unite in pushing Pyongyang to improve its behavior,
King said he will continue to work "to increase the flow of information into
North Korea, to promote human rights and the rule of law and to plant the seeds
of civil society."
"The challenge of improving human rights conditions for the North Korean people
requires that we all work together," he said.
In an apparent effort to pave the ground for economic revival and a power
succession, North Korea has called for an end to hostilities with the U.S. this
year, proposing talks on a formal peace treaty to replace the truce that ended
the 1950-53 Korean War.
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