A U.S. presidential envoy on North Korean human rights has given a piece of advice to U.S. President-elect Barack Obama in dealing with the North.

Jay Lefkowitz recommended that the next U.S. president link the North Korean human rights issue to the nuclear problem or economic aid, saying the U.S. needs to deal with the North comprehensively.

In a Wall Street Journal contribution entitled “Let’s Confront North Korea on Human Rights,” Lefkowitz said that the Bush and Clinton administrations failed to negotiate an end to the North’s nuclear capability. He attributed part of the failure to the six-party talks’ narrow focus on the North Korean nuclear problem. He added that the U.S. has few carrots and sticks left with which to engage the North.

Lefkowitz said that the U.S. should provide economic assistance and food aid to the North in return for verifiable progress on the nuclear agenda. He suggested the implementation of a model similar to the Helsinki Process, through which the West negotiated with the Eastern Bloc.

Lefkowitz said that by linking the North Korean human rights issue with economic assistance, the U.S. will help North Korean people suffering from severe human rights violations as well as fortify its security.