US HUMAN RIGHTS ENVOY VISITS S. KOREA OVER N. KOREA ISSUES

The US special envoy for North Korean human rights issues arrived in South Korea this weekend for discussions on a range of issues related to North Korea, government officials said Sunday. 
Ambassador Robert King arrived in Seoul on Saturday to meet with senior officials in South Korea for discussions on diverse issues related to North Korea, South Korea's news agency (Yonhap) reported. 
The human rights bill, which was passed by South Korea's parliament last month, is known to be one of the envoy's major interests. 
The bill calls for a concerted effort to improve the North's human rights situation, such as setting up a foundation tasked with collecting information about the situation and maintaining relevant archives. 
The dismal human rights situation in North Korea was also addressed during the trilateral summit between South Korea, the United States and Japan, which took place Thursday. 
South Korean President Park Geun-hye said she agreed with US President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to strengthen efforts to improve the human rights situation in the North. 
Pyongyang is accused of committing countless human rights abuses, ranging from holding hundreds of thousands of political prisoners in concentration camps and allowing torture and public executions. The country, however, flatly denies the accusations raised and counters that the criticism is a ploy led by the United States to topple its regime. 
King is set to leave for Washington on Wednesday, wrapping up his five-day trip to South Korea.