Park returns home after visit to Canada, U.N.

President Park Geun-hye returned home Friday from a high-profile visit to Canada and New York that was culminated in her address to the U.N. General Assembly.

Park first made a state visit to Canada and held a summit with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on how to further boost their relations.

A key accomplishment of her trip to Canada was the signing of a free trade deal that could boost trade and investment ties across the Pacific. South Korea is the first Asian country to sign a free trade deal with Canada.

South Korea said it plans to submit a free trade deal to the parliament early next month for ratification.

In New York, she urged North Korea to improve its dismal human rights record and to end its nuclear weapons programs in her first speech at the U.N. General Assembly.

She also made thinly veiled accusations against Japan over the issue of former Korean sex slaves for Japan's World War II soldiers, saying that sexual violence against women during wartime "is a clear violation of human rights."

The issue of former sex slaves has long been one of the key sticking points in relations between the two neighbors, along with Japan's territorial claims to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo.

She also joined U.S. President Barack Obama, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other top leaders in their efforts to address a serious threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters in Syria and Iraq.

Separately, Park pledged to contribute up to US$100 million to a U.N. organization aimed at raising funds to curb atmospheric warming, underscoring Seoul's commitment to cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases that scientists blame for global warming. (Yonhap)