Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (Human Rights)

I regard that as extremely helpful. It will be an important meeting that I much look forward to attending. I have no doubt that those who have attended this debate will be there, ready with some fairly sharp questions for the special rapporteur about how things can be moved forward. We must make it clear to the North Koreans that we are ready to help their people, but that basic rights and needs must first be granted, either by bilateral or multilateral processes. Clearly, one of the first tests of the new United Nations Human Rights Council will be to address the appalling situation in North Korea and to challenge and engage with Pyongyang. The missile situation inevitably has an effect on the North Korean Government’s attitude to human rights because if they are spending money on re-arming and on ever more devastating technology, that must have an effect on the amount of money available for the people of that country. The United States ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, has said:"““You don't normally engage in conversations by threatening to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles. And it’s not a way to produce a conversation because if you acquiesce in aberrant behaviour you simply encourage the repetition of it, which we’re obviously not going to do.””" The tests would spell further trouble for the stalled six-party negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and human rights. They would raise questions about the future stability and security of the region and North Korea’s enduring role as the region’s troublemaker. The UN has made it clear that all diplomatic negotiations must take place through the six-party framework involving North Korea. I welcome that, because I think the idea behind testing this missile may well be to tempt the United States back into bilateral talks to offer further carrots to the regime, which would be totally the wrong way to go. The six-party talks, involving South Korea, Russia, Japan, China and the United States, must be allowed to proceed and I hope that they will produce some improvement in the standard of living of the dreadfully oppressed people in North Korea.