Moments before a press conference in Seoul yesterday where Secretary of State Rice made an impassioned pitch for freedom and democracy, a German doctor who crusades against human rights violations in North Korea was wrestled to the ground by security personnel and forced out of the event.

The veteran activist, Norbert Vollertsen, 47, was recognized by staff from the American Embassy as Ms. Rice took her seat for an exchange with South Korean journalists who post their work on the Web, according to accounts from Korean and American news outlets.

“Miss Rice, the North Korean people are dying and they are crying for your help,” Dr. Vollertsen shouted as he was dragged from a hotel function room by security personnel. He clutched a poster that read, “Freedom for North Korea: 50 Years Overdue.” During the scuffle, an embassy employee ripped the sign in half, the Associated Press reported.

Dr. Vollertsen later alleged that he was roughed up during the incident.

In a telephone interview with The New York Sun last night, Dr. Vollertsen said he was roughed up by American security officers. “They kicked me harder than the North Koreans, even. It was a little bit funny and very ironic,” Dr. Vollertsen said. The physician said he incurred minor injuries to his arm and ear.

Dr. Vollertsen said he was handed over to South Korean police and released without charge. “I will continue my fight,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the embassy did not return a call yesterday seeking comment for this story. Yonhap quoted a South Korean police detective as saying that Dr. Vollertsen’s claim he was mistreated was exaggerated.

During the session with Internet journalists, Ms. Rice was asked repeatedly about what concessions America would be willing to give North Korea to get the communist country to abandon its nuclear weapons program. She also defended her recent description of North Korea as an “outpost of tyranny,” though she chose not to repeat the phrase yesterday.

Dr. Vollertsen said he wished Ms. Rice had been more forceful in denouncing North Korea’s bleak human rights record. “I was a little disappointed because she didn’t mention again the ‘outpost of tyranny,’ ” he said.

“The United States is always going to speak up for people who live without freedom,” Ms. Rice said. “We’re in luck. We live in free societies where you can come here and you can say what you want and you can think what you want and you can ask me anything … but we shouldn’t ignore what is happening to people who don’t have those freedoms. It’s not right,” she added.

Later yesterday, Ms. Rice traveled to Beijing, where she met with President Hu and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. She urged the Chinese leaders to step up pressure on Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons, an American official said. The Chinese have been key players in so-called six-party talks set up with North Korea after the Bush administration balked at direct negotiations with Pyongyang.

North Korea walked out of those talks nine months ago. Ms. Rice warned yesterday that America’s patience is not infinite. “We need to resolve this issue. It cannot go on forever,” she said.

A former American ambassador to South Korea, James Lilley, said he agrees with the administration’s efforts to have the countries involved present a united front to North Korea. “You’re doing exactly the right thing in trying to come up with some kind of coordinated position with China, South Korea, Japan and the U.S.,” Mr. Lilley said in an interview. “This is like herding cats.”

Mr. Lilley said Pyongyang’s unwillingness to return to the talks is not the product of pique over Ms. Rice’s statements. “They aren’t coming to those talks because they don’t want to come,” the former ambassador said. “They want to be bribed to come in. They want big piles of money, grain, and oil and they haven’t gotten in yet.”

A religious-freedom expert with a neoconservative think tank said yesterday that he does not believe that Ms. Rice is actually pressing for a broad agreement with Pyongyang.

“You’ve got to look behind the statements,” said Michael Horowitz of the Hudson Institute. “She can’t say the six-party talks are a charade. … In the private talks, she’s not begging the Chinese to push Kim Jong Il into another framework deal.”

Mr. Horowitz noted that while most South Koreans appear to favor concessions towards North Korea, outrage towards the regime is growing in neighboring Japan. A Japanese television outlet caused a stir last week when it aired a smuggled videotape of a public execution in North Korea. “It’s Abu Ghraib stuff,” he said. “In Japan, it’s major.” Mr. Horowitz, who gave a strong endorsement to Ms. Rice, predicted the North Korean government will fall by the end of the year.

In Beijing, Ms. Rice, who is a minister’s daughter, attended Palm Sunday services. The visit was intended to show solidarity with Chinese Christians.