S Korean, US envoys discuss N Korea human rights

A US special envoy met with South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator on Monday and discussed ways to promote human rights conditions in North Korea, the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported. Ambassador Robert King, the US special envoy for North Korean human rights, held talks in Seoul with Lim Sung-nam, South Korea's top negotiator to the six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program. "It's important that we continue talking about our efforts to promote human rights in North Korea," King was quoted as telling reporters after talks with Lim. King arrived in Seoul on Saturday for a five-day visit as part of his Asian "field trips" aimed at assessing the latest human rights situation in North Korea, the report said. King and Seoul officials also exchanged views on the North's new leader Kim Jong-un, who took the helm of the communist state in December 2011 after the death of his father. But the topic of humanitarian aid to North Korea has been taken off the table during meetings between King and Seoul officials, they said. King previously visited Seoul in June and met with government officials, lawmakers, North Korean defectors and officials of non-governmental organizations.