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US focuses on rights in N Korea

"If the DPRK wants to enter the international arena ... it's got to ... consider the cost of admission, and part of the cost is that your human rights record will be looked at."

Christopher Hill, top US negotiator with North Korea

US President George W. Bush on Friday named a former senior domestic policy aide, Jay Lefkowitz, as his special envoy in charge of promoting human rights in North Korea.

"His appointment will greatly enhance our efforts to encourage North Korea to accept and abide by internationally accepted human rights standards and norms," Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino said in a statement.

There was no immediate reaction from Pyongyang, which has warned in the past that stepping up pressure on the human rights front may hurt prospects for progress at six-nation talks on its nuclear weapons programs.

The negotiations -- which group the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia, and the US -- are due to resume during the week of Aug. 29.

But a senior US official, in a conference call arranged by the White House, denied that the appointment was timed to affect the talks, noting that the creation of the post was required under a US law passed late last year.

"It should not, in our judgment, should not affect it in any negative way. Obviously, we hope it would affect things in a positive way," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Lefkowitz was on vacation and unavailable for comment.

"If North Korea were positive about development of human rights and so on, that might be helpful across the board in all of the areas of our relationship," said the official.

Christopher Hill, who will remain Washington's pointman on North Korean nuclear issues, said on Wednesday that Pyongyang should expect increased scrutiny of its human rights record, should it conclude its best interests lie in making a deal to end its nuclear programs and open up to the world.

"If the DPRK wants to enter the international arena and wants to be a participant, it's got to begin to consider the cost of admission, and part of the cost is that your human rights record will be looked at," he said.

Lefkowitz was to take up his duties next month, meeting with other US officials to draft a plan of action before he travels to the region to meet with US partners in the six-party talks and visits with European and UN officials, the anonymous aide said.

"My own gauge [for success] would be to look at: Is there growing international, multilateral cooperation on promotion of human rights in North Korea?" the official said.

Lefkowitz has served as deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy, playing a central role in Bush's decision in August 2001 to curtail government-funded embryonic stem-cell research.

He has also been a member of the US delegation to the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva and the US delegation to the International Conference on Anti-Semitism sponsored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
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