U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken feels “strongly” about the need to re-appoint a special envoy for North Korea human rights, he said at a House Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Wednesday.

Blinken’s comments about the position came just a week before his scheduled visit to Seoul, where he was set to meet with South Korean counterparts from March 17 to 18.

“This is an issue I feel strongly about, and I agree with you,” said Blinken in a response to Rep. Young Kim, a Republican representative from California who called on the Secretary of State to fill the position