Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (Human Rights)

I shall come to that. The hon. Gentleman will be pleased to hear that the issue has made me rather busy since I was appointed. I am not being flippant; I have been busy, and the reason for that is plain. It is not only about the history and the responsibility of any Minister who holds this post but about the growing concern across this House and in the other place at the systematic information coming from religious and other groups about the deteriorating situation. One aspect of North Korea’s human rights record that is of concern to us is the abduction of foreign nationals, notably the Japanese nationals abducted in the 1970s and 1980s. Some were returned to Japan after 2002, when the North Korean Government admitted to the abductions. However, the fate of others remains unclear. In my meeting with the Japanese Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs in Geneva on Tuesday, I offered to visit the families of some of those abductees when I am next in Japan, I hope in the next couple of months. The Vice-Minister was keen that I should do so—subject, of course, to the wishes of the families. In the near future, I shall also visit South Korea, which has similar concerns about abductions of its nationals. We have done what we can to help. My hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, West pressed the issue during his visit in 2004. Since then, we have worked with Japan and others to ensure that the issue is addressed in the international forums, in which North Korean human rights are increasingly under discussion. For many years, the international community has provided extensive food aid to North Korea, at one point feeding perhaps a third of the country’s population. In September 2005, the North Korean Government claimed that harvests had improved so much that aid was no longer required. The United Nations and aid agencies did not share that view. Nevertheless, the World Food Programme was obliged by the North Korean Government to shut down most of its operations in December last year. Given those circumstances, the United Kingdom also had to suspend further funding. We stand ready to resume humanitarian assistance if and when the North Korean Government are willing to accept it and the monitoring that must go with it to ensure effectiveness and accountability and that the food goes to those who require it. Last month, the World Food Programme resumed some of its activities on a much-reduced scale. It remains to be seen how effective that will be. Concerns obviously remain that not enough food is reaching vulnerable groups, including small children and the elderly. Relations between the United Kingdom and North Korea are bound to be constrained while such major concerns remain. Human rights are not the only concern. North Korea’s nuclear weapons programmes and missile development also stand in the way. The nuclear weapons programmes are a serious violation of its obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and its international atomic energy agency safeguards agreement, as well as of commitments undertaken in agreements with the United States and South Korea. Six-party talks, involving the US, China, South Korea, Japan, Russia and North Korea, have been under way since 2003 to try to resolve the issue, under energetic Chinese leadership. I discussed the issue of North Korea with the Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister in Geneva on Tuesday, and with the Chinese ambassador yesterday. North Korean engagement with the six-party talks has been frustratingly sporadic, and the talks are currently stalled as North Korea refuses once more to return to the table. In September 2005, North Korea signed up to a joint statement of the six parties to the talks, in which it undertook to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes and to return, at an early date, to the non-proliferation treaty and International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. The United Kingdom and the international community expect that undertaking to be honoured without further prevarication. It should be obvious to North Korea that it has nothing to gain from a nuclear weapons programme. We hope that it will step back from that misguided path, and devote its energies to restoring life to a shattered economy and hope and dignity to a despairing population. Finally, to answer the question put to me by the hon. Member for Hammersmith and Fulham (Mr. Hands), I have spoken twice to the Chinese and once to the Japanese, and will be visiting the region in the next few weeks. I have yet to speak to a Russian counterpart, but that will happen too. I have also answered a parliamentary question. That will appear on the Order Paper in the next day or so.