Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of (a) reports of conditions in quarantine camps and (b) the wider humanitarian situation in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea in the context of the covid-19 pandemic; and what humanitarian assistance the Government is providing in response to that matter.

We are aware of the disturbing reports of so called 'quarantine camps' and take all allegations of human rights violations inside North Korea very seriously. We have made clear on many occasions our concern at North Korea's appalling human rights record, including in detention facilities. We raise these concerns with the DPRK authorities directly as well as in international fora. We made an assessment of the humanitarian situation in North Korea in September 2020. It concluded that North Korea's humanitarian need is likely increasing as a result of the country's border lockdown in response to Covid-19 and abnormally high cumulative rainfall in the monsoon period. The United Kingdom provides multilateral funds to the UN and other international organisations providing humanitarian assistance in North Korea, including the Global Humanitarian Response Plan (GHRP) in response to Covid-19. As a country of concern in the GHRP, North Korea is receiving funds from this global appeal. North Korea is also one of the countries eligible to receive Covid-19 vaccines through the COVAX initiative to which the United Kingdom has committed up to £500 million.

We keep the humanitarian situation in North Korea under constant review, including through ongoing discussions with international organisations operational in country. We continue to make clear to the North Korean Government that international support is available, and urge them to restore international access and monitoring for humanitarian assistance. The UK has also repeatedly called on North Korea to prioritise the well-being of its people over the development of illegal weapons programmes, through our bilateral relationship and in multilateral fora.