GENEVA, Switzerland, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- The recent change in the leadership in North Korea should come with widespread reforms, specifically regarding human rights, a U.N. official said.
Kim Jong Un was declared leader of North Korea in December after his father, 69-year-old Kim Jong Il, died from "mental and physical overwork," likely a heart attack.
Marzuki Darusman, the U.N. special envoy for human rights in North Korea, said the change in leadership was a cause for hope.
"I am hoping that the recent change in leadership in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea will prompt a change in the country's overall policy, including policies that affect the human rights of the people of the DPRK, and those that affect immediate neighbors such as Japan and the Republic of Korea," he said in a statement.
Darusman departs on a trip to Japan next week for an official fact-finding mission. He aims to meet with government officials, North Korean defectors and members of civil society to discuss developments in the isolated country.
He said he's headed to Japan because his request to visit North Korea was "rejected on several occasions."
"I will visit Japan, where I hope to gather information on the human rights situation of the people of DPRK and on cases of abduction of Japanese nationals by agents of the DPRK," he said.
