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There was news from the United States overnight over the North Korean issue. The State Department says human rights issues, including freedom of religion, must be addressed in order to fully normalize relations.

Washington's Correspondent Seok-Min Son reports.

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The State Department said in the North Korean version of the 2019 International Religious Freedom Report, "The US government has made it clear to the North that it needs to address human rights issues, including freedom of religion, in order to fully normalize relations."

The State Department's link to human rights issues with normalizing relations is missing from the previous year's report.

In line with the report's publication, the State Department's Ambassador for International Religious Freedom, through briefings, said North Korea has a long way to go when it comes to freedom of religion.

"I want to ask North Korea to act like a normal state," said Ambassador Brownback, citing cases of North Koreans being sent to concentration camps and losing their lives.

Previously, in December last year, the State Department designated nine countries, including North Korea, China, and Iran, as special religious liberties.

In the midst of this, UN Secretary-General Guthes expressed his regret for saying that North Korea would completely abolish all communication channels between the two Koreas and said it should try to resume the dialogue.