Blinken Slams North Korea for Massive Human Rights Abuses in Debut Asia Trip

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized North Korea for massive human rights abuses at the start of a visit to Seoul, bringing up a subject typically met by Pyongyang with a heated rebuke and marking a change in tone from President Donald Trump’s administration.

The comments Wednesday, during Blinken’s first trip abroad since taking the post of President Joe Biden’s top envoy, come as the U.S. adjusts its strategy toward Pyongyang and tries to smooth ties with long-time ally South Korea.

“The regime in North Korea continues to commit systemic and widespread abuses against its own people,” Blinken said ahead of a meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong.

Biden’s administration is recalibrating U.S. policies toward Pyongyang after predecessor Trump’s three summits with leader Kim Jong Un produced no tangible denuclearization and largely avoided touching on North Korea’s human rights record, long considered by the State Department as among the worst in the world.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has for the most part avoided mentioning human rights violations in relation to his neighbor to the north, a subject that could derail his policy of rapprochement. The Moon government has vowed to make efforts to improve the human rights situation, but it wants do so by improving ties with Kim first, rather than pressuring Pyongyang on the international stage.

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