Suzanne Scholte, a well-known U.S. activist on the North Korean human rights problem, has become a Republican candidate for November's congressional election, according to her campaign website.

She will take on Democrat incumbent Gerry Connolly seeking a fourth term in the House to represent Virginia's 11th district where there are relatively many Korean-American residents.

"This is time for all of us to come together to preserve what makes America the greatest nation on earth, our Constitution, our rule of law and our freedoms," Scholte said on Saturday in a speech after defeating her party rivals in a nomination race. "We will bring together people from diverse backgrounds and build a unity of purpose to achieve greater opportunity and hope."

Scholte, 54, is a longtime human rights activist focusing on North Korea. She is a founding member of the North Korea Freedom Coalition, a nonprofit group of dozens of organizations working to improve the human rights record in the communist nation. She won the 2008 Seoul Peace Prize.

"My human rights advocacy for the world's most persecuted has taken me to the very borders between freedom and oppression: the DMZ in Korea and the Wall of Shame in Western Sahara," Scholte said in announcing her bid for Congress in February. (Yonhap)