British lawmaker calls for US embassy in N.Korea

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-11 15:47

SEOUL – A lawmaker just back from a visit to Pyongyang urged the new US administration on Wednesday to normalise ties with North Korea as part of a broader approach to the country.

Lord David Alton called for joint international efforts to address the North's human rights record and humanitarian issues and not just its nuclear weapons programme.

"The creation of a US embassy in Pyongyang should be a top priority for the incoming (US) administration," Alton, chairman of Britain's All Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea, said in a written presentation to South Korea's parliament.

Failure to normalise relations and to replace the 1953 Korean War armistice with a peace treaty not only had huge security implications but also implications for humanitarian and human rights concerns, he said.

Alton, who last week led a British parliamentary delegation to Pyongyang, said six-nation negotiations with the North have been too narrowly focused on nuclear issues.

He called on Washington to adopt a Helsinki-style approach of constructive engagement, a reference to the 1975 Helsinki Process, which pushed for democracy in Warsaw Pact nations.

"There must be a clear link between human rights and security," Alton said.

A group of US experts who returned from a separate visit to Pyongyang said in Beijing Saturday that North Korea wants to push forward with the six-party denuclearisation talks as well as holding direct talks with Washington.

But they said Pyongyang appears in no hurry to resume the stalled six-nation negotiations.