NK News
Washington D.C.- Secretary of state says Washington will fill position as required by law, despite not doing so in Trump’s first term
The Trump administration is actively working to appoint a new special envoy for North Korean human rights, a post that has remained vacant since January, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday.
Speaking during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Rubio responded to a question from Rep. Young Kim about whether the administration intended to fill the position, which was last held by Julie Turner before her departure earlier this year.
“Yes, and obviously that’s going through the process of the presidential personnel for the appointment process to find the right person … make sure the vetting is cleared and so forth,” he responded.
Rubio explained that the administration had initially prioritized filling assistant secretary-level and other Senate-confirmed roles, but emphasized that it still intends to name a new envoy as mandated by law.
The role of the special envoy is grounded in the North Korean Human Rights Act, which was first enacted in 2004 and hsa been periodically reauthorized.
During Donald Trump’s first term, the U.S. faced strong criticism from nongovernmental organizations and human rights activists for leaving the special envoy post vacant following Robert King’s departure in Jan. 2017.
Trump did not nominate a new candidate while pursuing diplomacy with North Korea, and the vacancy then remained unfilled during the first two years of Joe Biden’s presidency, despite the administration’s assurances that it would name someone to the role.
Biden did not appoint Julie Turner to the role until Oct. 2023, more than six years after King’s departure.
North Korea, which bristles at any criticism of its poor human rights record, decried Turner’s appointment and denounced her as a “wicked woman” and a “political housemaid.” State propaganda also described her as a “woman of uncertain origin and ethnicity” in a racist reference to her identity as a Korean American adoptee.
The current vacancy comes amid concerns about the Trump administration’s commitment to human rights as part of its broader North Korea policy.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has pushed extensive funding cuts that have devastated long-running U.S. initiatives aimed at improving North Korean human rights, jeopardizing rights groups and radio services broadcasting information into the isolated state.
Rubio’s comments follow a rare U.N. meeting this week to highlight North Korea’s human rights abuses and support for Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Activists, diplomats and North Korean escapees took to the podium at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday to testify about Pyongyang’s systematic abuse of human rights, in the first-ever meeting of its kind devoted to addressing the Kim regime’s record.
