Concerned by the lack of any reference to human rights in the joint statement issued at the historic summit between Washington and Pyongyang, the United Nations special rapporteur on North Korea says “this is the time” for the U.S. to pressure North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to engage in a dialogue with the international community to improve the lives of its people.
Quintana said the momentum generated by the summit must bring North Korea's human rights situations to the fore. “Now the North Korean leadership and the government want to normalize the country, want to become a respectable member of the United Nations. Well, they will have to change their stance in regard to human rights questions and start the process of dialogue and engagement,” he said.
While Quintana said he understands President Donald Trump's priority is denuclearizing North Korea, the U.N. official is concerned that unless the human rights situation in North Korea improves, it will become “an obstacle for any agreement to be implemented and effective.”
During a press conference after the summit talks, Trump downplayed reporters' questions on human rights, saying only that he brought up the issue to Kim.