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Biden nominates new North Korea human rights envoy

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State Department official Julie Turner will serve with the rank of ambassador if confirmed by the Senate.

Biden nominates new North Korea human rights envoy

Julie Turner currently serves as the director of the Office of East Asia and the Pacific in the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, according to a White House press release.

U.S. President Joe Biden has nominated Julie Turner, a longtime State Department official, as special envoy on North Korean human rights issues, a role left unfilled for more than five years.

If confirmed by the Senate, Turner would become the first such envoy since before the Trump administration, and would lead U.S. diplomatic efforts against Pyongyang’s human rights abuses with the rank of ambassador. 

Turner currently serves as the director of the Office of East Asia and the Pacific in the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, a White House press release says, and previously served as Southeast Asia director on the National Security Council. 

“Turner has served more than 16 years in the Office of East Asia and the Pacific, in positions of increasing responsibility, primarily focused on initiatives related to promoting human rights in North Korea, including a tour as Special Assistant in the Office of the Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues,” the statement says.

Ambassador Robert R. King previously served in the role from 2009 to 2017, but the Trump administration did not nominate a successor.

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