The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea will travel to Seoul in early July to press South Korea and other countries to include the issue of human rights in future talks with DPRK officials.

The week-long trip to Seoul, announced by the UN on Wednesday, will be the first conducted by Tomas Ojea Quintana this year and the first since North Korea’s campaign of diplomatic rapprochement began in January.

“My upcoming visit to Seoul is part of my ongoing assessment of the situation of human rights in the DPRK,” Quintana was quoted as saying