The US State Department’s rights report on the North, released last week, described “egregious human rights violations” in the authoritarian state from public executions to widespread surveillance of citizens. Washington was appointing itself as a “human rights judge”, the official KCNA news agency said in a commentary late Tuesday. Seoul’s foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha said earlier that Pyongyang’s human rights record would not be discussed at Friday’s summit despite calls by rights groups asking Moon to raise the issue with Kim. US-based Human Rights Watch urged Seoul to ‘rethink’ its decision, saying Tuesday that the summit is a “crucial moment… for the long-suffering people of North Korea”. US envoy says ‘real dialogue’ needed with North KoreaTrump has occasionally slammed the North’s dire rights record, prominently featuring a North Korean refugee in his State of the Union address.

Source: The Express Tribune April 25, 2018 06:56 UTC