Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions the British Embassy in Pyongyang has had with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) officials on reports to the UN Commission of Inquiry of widespread use of sexual violence against women within the Workers' Party of Korea, the government of the DPRK and the Korean People's Army.

We welcome the spotlight shone by the Commission of Inquiry report on horrific and systemic violations of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), not least with regard to sexual violence against women. We have urged the DPRK authorities, through both our Embassy in Pyongyang and the DPRK Embassy in London, to respond in detail to the contents of the report and to address the violations that it documents. The DPRK continues to reject the Commission’s findings and will not engage on the detail of the Commission’s report.