Summary of external news of North Korea this week

SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Yonhap) -- The following is a summary of external news of North Korea this week.

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Unification minister discusses N.K. human rights with U.N. rapporteur

SEOUL -- Unification Minister Kwon Young-se met Friday with the new U.N. special rapporteur for North Korea's human rights to discuss humanitarian issues in Pyongyang.

During his meeting with Elizabeth Salmon, Kwon promised proactive efforts to address the human rights issue of North Korea and expressed regret that the matter had been "neglected" under the previous liberal Moon Jae-in administration.

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(4th LD) S. Korea, U.S., Japan agree on strong response in case of N. Korea's nuke test

HONOLULU/WASHINGTON -- South Korea, Japan and the United States agreed to stern measures against a new nuclear test by North Korea, South Korea's top security adviser said Thursday, adding the countries' reaction will be different from those of the past.

Kim Sung-han made the remarks after a trilateral meeting with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts -- Jake Sullivan and Takeo Akiba -- in Honolulu.

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S. Korea 'deeply concerned' about N. Korea's rights situation, minister tells U.N. rapporteur

SEOUL -- South Korea's foreign minister said Wednesday his government is "deeply concerned" about the North Korean human rights issue as he had a meeting with the newly appointed U.N. special rapporteur on the matter in Seoul.

"Our government is deeply concerned about the human rights situation in North Korea," Park Jin said, speaking with Elizabeth Salmon, who took office early this month as Tomas Ojea Quintana's successor.

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(LEAD) S. Korea, U.S. flaunt combined firepower in large-scale field exercise amid N.K. threats

POCHEON, South Korea -- South Korea and the United States staged a large-scale combined live-fire exercise near the inter-Korean border Wednesday, in a vivid display of the allies' military might amid North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

A centerpiece of the Combined Joint Fires Coordination Exercise (CJFCX) took place in Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon, about 30 kilometers south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), involving high-morale troops, battle tanks, mortars, howitzers and warplanes to boot.

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Satellite imagery shows flood damage at N. Korea's nuclear test site: Beyond Parallel

WASHINGTON -- Recent satellite imagery suggest that work to repair North Korea's main nuclear test site in Punggye-ri may have been suspended due to flood damage, a U.S. monitor said Monday.

The satellite imagery, taken on Wednesday, showed no significant activities at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, according to Beyond Parallel, a project of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.

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New U.N. rapporteur for N. Korea human rights vows to take victim-centered approach

SEOUL -- Elizabeth Salmon, the newly appointed U.N. special rapporteur for North Korea's human rights, promised Monday to take a victim-centered approach in addressing the issue.

Salmon delivered the message during a meeting with 11 human rights activist groups in Seoul, including the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) and the families of the North's 1969 plane hijacking victims, Ethan Hee-seok Shin of TJWG told Yonhap News Agency.
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