WASHINGTON -- US Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday paid tribute to North Koreans who fled the regime as he marked "North Korea Freedom Week."
The annual event in the last week of April is used by South Korean and international activists to raise awareness of human rights abuses by the North Korean regime.
"On this North Korea Freedom Week, I remember the moving meeting w/ defectors who fled the oppressive regime in search of a better life and my time with Otto Warmbier's amazing family," Pence wrote on Twitter. "We are working hard on denuclearization and peace. It would be great for America and the world!"
US President Donald Trump watches Mike Pompeo(left) take the oath during his ceremonial swearing-in as US Secretary of State, as Susan Pompeo, Nick Pompeo(2nd from left) and US Vice President Mike Pence (right) look on at the State Department in Washington, DC, May 2, 2018. (AFP-Yonhap)
Pence met with North Korean defectors in February when he traveled to South Korea to attend the opening of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games. He was accompanied by the father of Otto Warmbier, a US college student who died last year after being detained in the North for more than a year.
US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are expected to meet in the coming weeks to talk about dismantling the regime's nuclear weapons program.
Many people have urged the Trump administration to also raise the human rights issue.
Three US citizens currently remain detained in the North.
The State Department issued a separate statement calling out the regime.
"On the occasion of North Korea Freedom Week, we must not forget the millions of North Koreans who continue to suffer under one of the most repressive and abusive governments in the world," it said. "For more than 60 years the people of North Korea have faced egregious human rights violations in virtually every aspect of life."
The US remains "gravely concerned and deeply troubled" by the fact that 100,000 people are suffering in political prison camps while those who try to defect are often tortured or killed.
"In tandem with the maximum pressure campaign, we will continue to press for accountability for those responsible," the department said. "We are also going to continue our efforts to increase the flow of independent information into, out of, and within this isolated state to present everyday North Koreans with a more realistic picture of the outside world." (Yonhap)