Blinken determined to appoint envoy for North Korea rights

In this March 9, 2017, file photo, a North Korea flag flies next to barbed wire at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Reuters-Yonhap

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday the Biden administration is determined to appoint an envoy responsible for monitoring the human rights situation in North Korea, but that he was not able to offer a timeline for this.

Blinken was asked about the administration's plans for such an appointment at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the U.S. State Department's annual budget request.

"We will be coming forward with that. I can't put a timeline on it. We're determined to do that," Blinken said, while adding the vetting process had become ever more complicated and time consuming. (Reuters)