Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations his Department has made to his counterpart in Ukraine on the capture of North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russian forces and their reported desire to defect to South Korea.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK strongly condemns North Korea's military support for Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, and we remain deeply concerned about the deepening strategic relationship between Russia and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), which has significant implications for Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security.
Decisions regarding the status and future of prisoners of war captured in Ukraine are for the Ukrainian authorities to determine, in consultation with relevant partners and in accordance with applicable legal and humanitarian frameworks.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on trade deals.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Secretary of State met his Indian counterpart, Minister Goyal, in Mumbai as part of the recent trade mission led by the Prime Minister, and had productive discussions on our joint ambition to bring the UK-India free trade agreement (FTA) into force as soon as possible.
I held meetings with German, Emerati, Saudi, Greek and Indian counterparts at the Berlin Global Dialogue and attended the GCC Trade Ministers Meeting in Kuwait in October, reaffirming shared, strong political will to conclude a UK-GCC trade deal.
I visited Argentina and Brazil and discussed how best to strengthen our trading relationship with a series of ministerial counterparts, including potentially through an FTA. I have also held meetings with my Uruguayan, Paraguayan, and Ukrainian counterparts online.
There have been further ministerial-level discussions with counterparts in the US, EU, Switzerland, Republic of Korea, and Turkey.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the report by the UN Human Rights Office entitled Situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea - Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, published on 12 September 2025; and what diplomatic steps she is taking with her international partners help protect (a) human rights defenders and (b) religious leaders in the country.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the September 2025 report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights made clear, there has been no improvement in the human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) since 2014. In response to this report, the UK issued a statement at the UN Human Rights Council. We called on the DPRK to engage meaningfully with the international community, to take credible steps to improve its human rights record and to grant all UN human rights mechanisms access into the country. We have also raised our concerns with the DPRK's Embassy in London. We regularly discuss with key international partners how to address the DPRK's human rights record, including on freedom of religion or belief.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with international partners on the ongoing detention of (a) Pastor Kim Jung-Wook, (b) Missionary Kim Kook-kie and (c) Missionary Choi Chun-gil in North Korea; and whether she is taking diplomatic steps to ensure their release.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Defending the right to freedom of religion or belief is a key strand of our human rights strategy in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the UK regularly raises its concerns about these issues both bilaterally via the embassy in London and in multilateral fora. On 23 September 2025, our Human Rights Ambassador issued a statement at the UN Human Rights Council calling on the DPRK to engage meaningfully with the international community on human rights issues.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent steps his Department has taken to negotiate trade agreements with other countries.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The government has concluded a trade deal with India, the fastest-growing economy in the G20. We have also agreed the General Terms for an Economic Prosperity Deal (EPD) with the United States and agreed a new Strategic Partnership with the European Union.
We are continuing to make good progress in our negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Republic of Korea, Switzerland and Turkey.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of deepening (a) commercial and (b) other economic ties between Russia and North Korea.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains deeply concerned about the implications of the deepening Russia-Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) relationship for both Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security. The rapid expansion of their military, political, and economic cooperation since the start of Russia's illegal war against Ukraine has resulted in ongoing flagrant violations of relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs) by both countries. Russia's support to DPRK's defence-industrial base, including the provision of oil and cash, as well as the experience DPRK troops have gained in Russia, allows it to support their weapons programmes and gain valuable military and technical insights. The UK has been clear that the DPRK must end its support for Russia's illegal war in Ukraine and must immediately withdraw its troops.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the involvement of North Korea in support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Russia's increasing reliance on support from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to help wage its illegal invasion of Ukraine demonstrates its underlying weakness. As we have said publicly, the DPRK is believed to have supplied hundreds of ballistic missiles and 20,000 containers of munitions to Russia. This includes millions of artillery and mortar rounds, accounting for around half of those Russia has fired against Ukraine. In addition the DPRK deployed approximately 11,000 combat troops to the Russian oblast of Kursk, sustaining 6000 casualties in offensive combat operations against Ukraine according to our latest estimates.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proposals they have for additional sanctions to further deter North Korea from its involvement in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Russia's increasing reliance on support from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to help wage its illegal invasion of Ukraine demonstrates its underlying weakness. As we have said publicly, the DPRK is believed to have supplied 20,000 containers of munitions to Russia, and its artillery and mortar shells account for 60 per cent of those used in Russia's brutal war of aggression against Ukraine. The DPRK must immediately withdraw its troops and stop its provision of thousands of munitions, arms and other materiel. The DPRK is subject to an extensive range of UN sanctions and the UK will continue to work with our partners to influence and to hold the DPRK to account for supporting Russia's illegal war in Ukraine. On 24 February 2025 the UK announced its largest sanctions package against Russia since 2022, including DPRK officials involved in supporting Russian military action against Ukraine. We do not comment on future or potential expansions of our DPRK sanctions as this could affect their impact.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what diplomatic efforts they have made to highlight the involvement of North Korea in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The direct participation of Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) troops in combat operations and supplies to Russia is another dangerous expansion of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, with serious consequences for European and Indo-Pacific security. We have repeatedly raised the issue on diplomatic channels, in multilateral fora, and through our regular engagement with likeminded partners. As part of the G7, we also designated several DPRK individuals involved in supporting the Russian military-industrial complex. Most recently, on 17 June, the Prime Minister met with President Lee Jae Myung where they discussed Ukraine and the challenges posed by the DPRK. On 16 December, the Foreign Secretary, along with G7 Foreign Ministers, condemned the increasing military cooperation between the DPRK and Russia.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice has a statutory duty to provide Language Services to enable access to justice for users for whom English is not their first language and those who require visual and tactile services, under the provision of the Equality Act.
Language Service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.
In FY 23/24 the total contracted spend was £915,037.52.
In FY 24/25 the total contracted spend was £1,003,283.32.
In FY 25/26 so far, the total contracted spend is £256,707.82.
The languages in this data exclude written translations into English, Welsh and Braille.
The languages translated into from English (United Kingdom) are:
Albanian (Albania)
Amharic (Ethiopia)
Arabic (Classical)
Arabic (Egypt)
Arabic (Modern Standard) Middle Eastern
Arabic (Modern Standard) North African
Arabic (Morocco)
Armenian (Armenia)
Bangla (Bangladesh)
Bosnian (Latin, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Bulgarian (Bulgaria)
Burmese
Burmese (Myanmar)
Catalan (Catalan)
Chinese (Simplified)
Chinese (Traditional)
Croatian (Latin, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Czech (Czech Republic)
Danish (Denmark)
Dari (Afghanistan)
Dutch (Netherlands)
Estonian (Estonia)
Filipino (Philippines)
Finnish (Finland)
French (Belgium)
French (France)
Georgian (Georgia)
German (Austria)
German (Germany)
Greek (Greece)
Gujarati (India)
Hebrew (Israel)
Hindi (India)
Hungarian (Hungary)
Icelandic (Iceland)
Indonesian (Indonesia)
Italian (Italy)
Japanese (Japan)
Kinyarwanda (Rwanda)
Kiswahili (Kenya)
Korean (Korea)
Kurdish (Bahdini)
Kurdish (Sorani)
Latvian (Latvia)
Lingala (Congo DRC)
Lithuanian (Lithuania)
Macedonian (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)
Malay (Malaysia)
Malayalam (India)
Maltese (Malta)
Mirpuri (Central Asia)
Mongolian (Cyrillic, Mongolia)
Nepali (Nepal)
Norwegian, Bokmål (Norway)
Norwegian, Nynorsk (Norway)
Oromo (Ethiopia)
PahariPotwari (Central Asia)
Pashto (Afghanistan)
Persian (Afghanistan)
Persian (Iran)
Polish (Poland)
Portuguese (Brazil)
Portuguese (Portugal)
Punjabi (India)
Punjabi (Pakistan)
Romanian (Romania)
Romany (Europe)
Russian (Russia)
Serbian (Cyrillic, Serbia)
Serbian (Latin, Serbia)
Shona (Latin, Zimbabwe)
Sinhala (Sri Lanka)
Slovak (Slovakia)
Slovenian (Slovenia)
Somali (Somalia)
Spanish (Argentina)
Spanish (Latin America)
Spanish (Mexico)
Spanish (Spain)
Swedish (Sweden)
Tajik (Cyrillic, Tajikistan)
Tamazight (Latin, Algeria)
Tamil (India)
Tetum (Timor)
Thai (Thailand)
Tigrinya (Eritrea)
Turkish (Turkey)
Ukranian (Ukraine)
Urdu (Islamic Republic of Pakistan)
Uzbek (Latin, Uzbekistan)
Vietnamese (Vietnam)
Wolof (Senegal)
Yoruba (Nigeria)
The Languages translated into from English (United States) are:
Arabic (Egypt)
Hungarian (Hungary)
Polish (Poland)
Romanian (Romania)