Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government which countries have downgraded or severed diplomatic relations with North Korea over the past two months; and what assessment they have made of the UK’s diplomatic relationship with North Korea.

The following countries have downgraded diplomatic relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the last two months: Egypt, Italy, Kuwait, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, Spain and the United Arab Emirates.

In the light of the repeated violations of UN Security Council Resolutions, we keep our bilateral relations with DPRK under constant review. At present, we judge that it is better to have open channels of communication where we can, especially in view of our presence in Pyongyang. This enables us to deliver tough messages directly to the regime.