Senate approves Korean human rights bill

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate approved a bill Wednesday aimed at pressuring North Korea to improve its human rights record.

The bill, the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004, would give federal financial support to non-profit, non-governmental human rights and democracy-building programs along with increased U.S. broadcasting efforts into the communist country.

The president would also be required to appoint a human rights envoy to the country, a move that has not been made since the Korean War in the early 1950s.

A similar bill was approved by the House in July, so enactment is likely sometime later this year.