To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the (a) UN and (b) South Korean government on human right abuses in North Korea.
Answered on
17 September 2015
We regularly discuss the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) appalling human rights record with close allies and partners. In August, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), met the Republic of Korea's Foreign Minister, Yun Byung-se, in Seoul for a wide-ranging dialogue. This included discussion of how the UK and the Republic of Korea could work together to improve the DPRK’s human rights record. In September, I travelled to the UN in Geneva. During this visit, I met the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad, and raised the human rights situation in the DPRK. While in Geneva, I also addressed the UN Human Rights Council, where I set out the Government’s particular concerns in the DPRK.