Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions the Government has had with the South Korean authorities about (a) North Korean progress towards viable nuclear weapons and (b) protecting UK companies from North Korean hacking.

The UK and the Republic of Korea (ROK) are close partners and regularly discuss matters relating to the Korean Peninsula, as well as broader international security concerns. The most recent Ministerial discussions were on 3 December 2014, when the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), held strategic talks with the ROK Foreign Minister, Yun Byung-se. These talks covered a range of issues including international security. The Foreign Secretary made clear during these discussions our concern that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea continues to advance its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. Separately, the ROK is one of a range of international partners with which we have engaged to help protect the UK and British businesses from cyber attacks. The Government is also working closely with industry to address the threat and impact of cyber attacks, as part of the UK Cyber Security Strategy.