Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2015-10-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 22 June (HL689) in determining that North Korea does not pose a terrorist threat, what assessment they made of any involvement by North Korea in assassinations, attempted kidnapping and offering support for the Tamil Tigers, Hezbollah and Hamas.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We are aware of media reports linking individuals alleged to be agents of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to assassination attempts against DPRK citizens who have resettled in the Republic of Korea (ROK). The reports also detail the actions taken by the ROK authorities in response to these incidents. There are also occasional unverified reports that North Korean agents have abducted refugees resident in other countries. While the DPRK has acknowledged its involvement in the historical abductions of Japanese citizens during the 1970s and 1980s, it has not admitted to participation in these more recent reported cases. We strongly support efforts to resolve enforced disappearances and spoke on this matter during a UN Human Rights Council panel discussion in September.

We are also aware of media reports alleging cooperation between the DPRK and the Tamil Tigers, Hezbollah and Hamas. Despite these reports, recent public assessments indicate that the DPRK is not known to have sponsored any terrorist acts since 1987. However, the UK remains extremely concerned by the DPRK’s indiscriminate global proliferation of arms and related material, in violation of UN sanctions.