Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the comments of 20 March 2015 by the North Korean Ambassador to the UK, what assessment he has made of the North Korea's preparedness for nuclear war.

We remain deeply concerned by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) development of its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. The DPRK has stated its intention to develop and deploy nuclear weapons and has conducted nuclear and ballistic missile tests, in violation of UN Security Council Resolutions. While the DPRK has made frequent public statements regarding its nuclear capabilities, it provides little substantive information on the precise nature of those capabilities.

We have made very clear that the DPRK must comply with its obligations under all relevant UN Security Council Resolutions. This includes not conducting further nuclear tests, or tests involving ballistic missile technologies. Any further nuclear test will be met by a robust international response.