U.S. TO APPOINT SPECIAL ENVOY FOR N.KOREA

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The U.S. secretary of state says the Biden administration will appoint a special envoy for human rights in North Korea, a post that has long been vacant. But he was not able to offer an exact timeline for the appointment. Meanwhile, the White House said no trilateral summit is scheduled yet with South Korea and Japan but it could be possible.

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U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken said the Biden administration will appoint a special envoy for human rights in North Korea. But he added he doesn't have an exact timetable for the personnel decision. While attending a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the State Department's annual budget request, Blinken made the remarks in response to Republican Representative Young Kim's question about the administration's plans for such an appointment.

[Soundbite] Antony Blinken(U.S. Secretary of State)

The special envoy for North Korea human rights issues has remained vacant for more than four years since January 2017, after Robert King's term ended. The Biden administration expressed concerns about human rights conditions in North Korea and stressed multiple times its determination to appoint a special envoy responsible for the issue. But it first appointed Sung Kim as the special envoy for North Korea, a move indicating its focus on dialogue with Pyongyang. Blinken also promised to work to help Korean War-separated families living in the U.S. get reunited with their North Korean relatives. But he added he has not yet checked whether or not the North would agree. Meanwhile, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that President Joe Biden currently does not have plans to hold a trilateral meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts on the sidelines of the Group of 7 (G7) summit, which begins in Britain on June 10. But, Sullivan added there is always a possibility.

[Soundbite] Jake Sullivan(White House National Security Advisor) :"We don't currently have a trilateral scheduled between the US, Japan and South Korea. But I will tell you there's a possibility for virtually anything in these small spaces where you have just, you know, in this case, 10 or 12 leaders in person there in Cornwall."

Following the International Atomic Energy Agency's warning that it saw indications in North Korea of possible plutonium reprocessing, South Korea and the U.S. are expected to make various working-level contacts this week.