The U.S. says progress on the human rights issue in North Korea is integral to improving the communist state’s relationship with Washington.

U.S. special envoy for human rights in North Korea Robert King told an international forum in Washington on Thursday that the U.S. is deeply concerned about the human rights conditions in North Korea and the plight of North Korean refugees.

He said human rights are a top United States priority and that addressing related issues will have a significant impact on the prospect for closer relations between the United States and the North.

He said the U.S. will continue to press Pyongyang to make significant headway on the North’s human rights issues.

King also said that Washington is continuing to look to North Korea to fulfill the commitments it made in the September 19th, 2005, joint statement, including the core goal of verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.