Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether North Korea is seen as a priority country by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the light of the findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry regarding wide-ranging and ongoing crimes against humanity in that country.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has long been, and continues to be, a priority country for our global work on human rights and regional stability. The UK strongly supported the work of the UN Commission of Inquiry and we continue to press the North Korean regime to make tangible progress on improving its appalling human rights record. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), recently discussed DPRK and Human Rights with Ambassador Robert King, Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea, and Danny Russel, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the US State Department.