Secretary of State Blinken slams North Korea's human rights abuses

[DonViejo]

Source: The Associated Press/NBC News


“The authoritarian regime in North Korea continues to commit systematic and widespread abuses against its own people,” Blinken said.

March 17, 2021, 12:10 PM EDT
By The Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea — America’s top diplomat on Wednesday criticized North Korea’s human rights record and reiterated a vow to strip the country of its nuclear program, a day after Pyongyang warned Washington to “refrain from causing a stink” amid deadlocked nuclear negotiations.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in South Korea with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin earlier Wednesday as part of their regional tour aimed at boosting America’s Asian alliances to better deal with growing challenges from China and North Korea.

“The authoritarian regime in North Korea continues to commit systematic and widespread abuses against its own people,” Blinken said at the start of his meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong. “We must stand with people demanding their fundamental rights and freedoms and against those who repress them.”

Blinken called North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs “a threat to the region and to the world.” He said the United States will work with South Korea, Japan and other allies to achieve the denuclearization of North Korea.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/secretary-state-blinken-slams-north-korea-s-human-rights-abuses-n1261302

[Warpy]

1. What's going on in NK right now is kind of a puzzle

They haven't been responding to diplomatic queries from the Biden administration, there have been rumors (nothing more) about civil unrest, and the latest couple of communiques have been from Kim's sister.

It all makes me wonder if there's been a coup of some sort, you know, new boss just like the old boss, nothing to see here. Or maybe Kim's love of cigarettes, alcohol, and fatty foods has caught up with him, we know he's already had some cardiac issues.

Something's rotten in Pyongyang, it just remains to be seen if it's a permanent condition and having made Kim a god, how they'll manage having a dead or disabled god.