Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has received representations from the BBC on providing a Korean-language service for North Korea.
There have been ongoing discussions between the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the BBC on a package of new language services. The details of these are being finalised by the BBC, which is operationally and editorially independent of government, and an announcement will be made shortly. We strongly support the BBC’s mission to bring accurate, high quality and impartial news to global audiences, including to countries where free speech is restricted.