UN special rapporteur for North Korea's human rights is set to visit South Korea this week to meet Seoul officials and defectors from the reclusive regime.

Elizabeth Salmon is expected to arrive in Seoul on Monday for a nine-day stay to meet foreign, unification and justice officials, as well as North Korean defectors and rights groups, according to the foreign ministry.

She is also scheduled to hold a press conference in Seoul on Sept. 12.

The rapporteur will submit a report on North Korean human rights issues to the UN based on the results of this week's visit.

The special rapporteur position was first created in 2004 to investigate and report to the UN Human Rights Council and General Assembly on the human rights situation in the reclusive regime in light of international human rights law. (Yonhap)