Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of remarks made by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea on 22 October that (1) North Korea is placing severe and widespread restrictions on basic freedoms, including surveillance and close monitoring of civilians, and (2) many citizens permanently disappear to a kwanliso political prison camp with families never informed of the decisions or of the whereabouts of their relatives; whether the UK Ambassador to North Korea has raised those allegations with the government of the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea; and if so, what response they received.

We have grave concerns about the human rights situation in North Korea. As the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea made clear on 22 October, citizens in North Korea are subject to arrest and imprisonment in horrifying conditions for attempts to exercise even basic, universally accepted, human rights, such as freedom of expression and belief. Our Ambassador in Pyongyang regularly raises human rights concerns with the DPRK authorities, including reports of severe restrictions on freedoms and conditions in prison camps. North Korea routinely challenges the evidence base for such allegations.

We also raise our human rights concerns in international fora. At the UN General Assembly in October, we called on the North Korean Government to show the world that freedoms supposedly enshrined in its constitution are not a mirage, and at North Korea's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in May, we called on the authorities to end all surveillance and censorship of individuals and organisations. We have also urged North Korea to permit access for the Special Rapporteur and other UN human rights bodies. North Korea continues to reject allegations of human rights violations, and took note of our UPR recommendations but with no commitment to action.