Top American envoys on Friday urged the international community to help improve human rights in North Korea in an international conference in Seoul.

U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Alexander Vershbow said U.S. President George W. Bush has deep interest in the matter and that now is the time to improve the North's dismal record on human rights.

Washington's special envoy for North Korea's human rights Jay Lefkowitz said the North has denied its people the most basic human rights of life, speech and religion.

He urged China to grant refugee status to North Korean defectors, saying hundreds of thousands of them are in danger.