Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his North Korean counterpart on the reported recent execution of Ri Yong-gil in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire

We are aware of reports of the execution of General Ri Yong-gil, the Chief of Staff of the Korean People’s Army, on Wednesday 10 February 2016. Due to the closed nature of the regime in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), we cannot verify the accuracy of these reports. The UK, working with the EU and Japan, has ensured that annual UN resolutions consistently call on the DPRK to end its use of the death penalty and adhere to international standards on judicial procedures. We also use our diplomatic relations to raise our concerns directly with North Korea officials in London and Pyongyang.