U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that the Biden administration will appoint an envoy responsible for monitoring the human rights situation in North Korea.

Blinken, however, said that he does not yet have an exact timeline for the appointment. 

The secretary made the remarks in a hearing before the House of Foreign Affairs Committee when asked about the Biden administration's plans for the appointment. 

Blinken said that the administration is "determined" to appoint a special envoy and "moving forward" on that, but the vetting process has become more "complicated, time consuming and laborious." 

He added that the U.S. wants to make sure that all of it is done properly.

The U.S. president is required by the North Korean Human Rights Act to appoint a special envoy for North Korean human rights, but the post at the State Department has been vacant since January 2017.