Human Right Watch, a watchdog organisation, organised the letter, also signed by ten other organisations including Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Jubilee Campaign, and the North Korea Freedom Coalition.

Signatories called for Biden to prioritise the promotion of rights and freedoms in North Korea—issues, they argued, that are “too often relegated to a distant tertiary status” while security issues such as counter-proliferation rise to the fore alone.

The letter calls for South Korea to take an increased role in the fight for human rights in North Korea, after some indications that South Korea may be bending to North Korean pressure rather than exerting pressure itself.

It also urges increased action on North Korean human rights both at the UN level and in any future bilateral meetings with North Korea. “For the United States, human rights must be part of diplomatic negotiations.”

Religious freedom advocates around the world have long called attention to the atrocities taking place in North Korea. Currently led by Kim Jong-un, the authoritarian regime aggressively prosecutes anyone deemed to be working against the interests of the state.

Source: persecution.org