ID :
58065
Wed, 04/29/2009 - 04:07
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/58065
The shortlink copeid
U.S. urges N. Korea to improve human rights record By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, April 28 (Yonhap) -- The United States Tuesday expressed concerns about the human rights condition in North Korea, urging the reclusive communist state to improve its rights record.
"We remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation in North Korea,"
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said. "We will continue to press North
Korea to improve its human rights record."
Wood's remarks coincide with the observance of North Korea Freedom Week.
In a show of the U.S. government's resolve to address North Korea's human rights
situation, Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North Korea, met
with "a delegation of North Korean defectors and advocacy organizations April 27
at the State Department," Wood said.
Bosworth also met with "Japanese abductee advocacy organizations and family
members," he said.
The spokesman said that the U.S. "wholeheartedly supports Japan's position on the
abductee issue, adding, "We have not forgotten and we'll never forget the
suffering of the abductees and their families. We strongly urge the DPRK to
address Japan's concerns without further delay."
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official
name.
Japan has refused to provide its portion of heavy fuel oil, amounting to 200,000
tons, to the North, citing what it called insufficient explanation from North
Korea about Japanese citizens kidnapped decades ago for the training of North
Korean spies on Japanese language and culture.
North Korea returned five of 13 abductees, and claims the rest are dead, while
Japan insists several more should be alive in the North.
Wood, meanwhile, called on North Korea to return to the six-party talks, stalled
for months over how to verify the North's nuclear activity.
The spokesman would not elaborate on whether or when Bosworth will travel to
Pyongyang or any other Asian capitals for consultations for reviving the nuclear
talks.
"He's been involved in trying to deal with the question of, how do we get the
North to live up to its obligations under the 2005 joint statement?" he said.
"He's been working this issue. I don't want to get into further details, in terms
of what he has been doing on that subject. But he's been busily engaged."
Under the joint statement signed in September 2005 between North Korea and five
other parties to the multilateral nuclear talks, including South Korea, the U.S.,
China, Japan and Russia, North Korea is supposed to dismantle its nuclear
programs in return for hefty economic aid and political benefits.
Bosworth traveled to Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo in early March, but Pyongyang
rejected his offer for a visit at that time.
It is not clear at the moment why the North refused to accept him, but some
analysts say Pyongyang aims to up the ante ahead of much-awaited bilateral
dialogue in a breakaway from the six-year-old multilateral talks that have not
produced a breakthrough.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
"We remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation in North Korea,"
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said. "We will continue to press North
Korea to improve its human rights record."
Wood's remarks coincide with the observance of North Korea Freedom Week.
In a show of the U.S. government's resolve to address North Korea's human rights
situation, Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North Korea, met
with "a delegation of North Korean defectors and advocacy organizations April 27
at the State Department," Wood said.
Bosworth also met with "Japanese abductee advocacy organizations and family
members," he said.
The spokesman said that the U.S. "wholeheartedly supports Japan's position on the
abductee issue, adding, "We have not forgotten and we'll never forget the
suffering of the abductees and their families. We strongly urge the DPRK to
address Japan's concerns without further delay."
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official
name.
Japan has refused to provide its portion of heavy fuel oil, amounting to 200,000
tons, to the North, citing what it called insufficient explanation from North
Korea about Japanese citizens kidnapped decades ago for the training of North
Korean spies on Japanese language and culture.
North Korea returned five of 13 abductees, and claims the rest are dead, while
Japan insists several more should be alive in the North.
Wood, meanwhile, called on North Korea to return to the six-party talks, stalled
for months over how to verify the North's nuclear activity.
The spokesman would not elaborate on whether or when Bosworth will travel to
Pyongyang or any other Asian capitals for consultations for reviving the nuclear
talks.
"He's been involved in trying to deal with the question of, how do we get the
North to live up to its obligations under the 2005 joint statement?" he said.
"He's been working this issue. I don't want to get into further details, in terms
of what he has been doing on that subject. But he's been busily engaged."
Under the joint statement signed in September 2005 between North Korea and five
other parties to the multilateral nuclear talks, including South Korea, the U.S.,
China, Japan and Russia, North Korea is supposed to dismantle its nuclear
programs in return for hefty economic aid and political benefits.
Bosworth traveled to Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo in early March, but Pyongyang
rejected his offer for a visit at that time.
It is not clear at the moment why the North refused to accept him, but some
analysts say Pyongyang aims to up the ante ahead of much-awaited bilateral
dialogue in a breakaway from the six-year-old multilateral talks that have not
produced a breakthrough.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
