U.N. envoy in Seoul for discussions on N. Korean human rights

By Shim Sun-ah
SEOUL, Oct. 27 (Yonhap) -- A U.N. envoy is visiting here for talks with Seoul officials and civic group activists on human rights in the communist state, officials said Monday.

"I understand Vitit Muntarbhorn, a U.N. special rapporteur on North Korean human
rights, began his five-day trip to South Korea Sunday for discussions with South
Korean government officials, North Korea human rights activists and defectors
from the communist nation," one of the officials said, requesting anonymity.
He has regularly visited South Korea once or twice a year to collect information
on North Korean human rights.
On Monday, the envoy was to meet with Unification Ministry officials dealing with
separated family members, as well as with families of those abducted by the North
and being held in the communist state against their will, the official said.
The conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has called on Pyongyang to
take proper measures to improve its human rights situations, to which Pyongyang
has reacted angrily.
Over 14,000 North Koreans have arrived in South Korea to escape famine and
political oppression in their homeland since the 1950-53 Korean War. Seoul
believes a total of 494 citizens, mostly fishermen, have been kidnapped and are
being held by the North.
Pyongyang, however, denies holding any South Korean nationals against their will.
sshim@yna.co.kr
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