Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of North Korea's nuclear programme.

In my written Ministerial statement of 14 December 2016 I updated the House on recent developments regarding the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the international response and what actions the Government is taking. The UN Security Council in resolution 2321 expressed its gravest concern that the DPRK's ongoing nuclear and ballistic missile-related activities have further generated increased tension in the region and beyond, and determined that there continues to exist a clear threat to international peace and security. The Government shares that assessment.