A non-governmental committee dedicated to improving the human rights situation in North Korea has started business in the United States.
The private committee is chaired by former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Fred Ickle. Among its members are former Representative Steven Solarz and former Ambassador to Seoul James Lilly.
In an inaugural declaration, the committee said it will launch programs to improve the human rights situation and verify the distribution of international food aid to the North.
The committee also aims to protect North Koreans escaping their impoverished homeland, provide information on the outside world to North Koreans, and help international human rights organizations gain access to the communist country.