Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 3 February (HL4923), whether they have taken steps to establish whether the Korea National Insurance Corporation is a lawful organisation; and what assessment they have made of whether funds generated by the Corporation have aided the government of North Korea in the development of its nuclear weapons programme.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Korea National Insurance Company (KNIC) is a designated entity under EU sanctions on North Korea and, as such, is subject to an asset freeze. Existing UN and EU sanctions against the DPRK are based on UN Security Council Resolutions that prohibit the development of the DPRK's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. Both EU and UN sanctions target goods and activities that support those programmes, and individuals and organisations who have acted in breach of these Resolutions.
We believe these sanctions have played a role in slowing down the progress of the DPRK's nuclear and missile programmes. The UK has complied with all provisions of the EU designation of KNIC.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 3 February (HL4923), whether they have anything to add to their reply about the activities of the Korea National Insurance Corporation; whether they believe that the activities of that Corporation are licit and lawful and whether they believe funds generated by the Corporation have aided the government of North Korea in the development of its nuclear weapons programme.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The UK has complied with all provisions of the EU designation of Korea National Insurance Company (KNIC). The decision to sanction individuals or entities is taken on a case by case basis in line with evidence. The EU designated the London office of the KNIC on 28 April 2016 and since then the UK has taken the appropriate actions to sanction the firm.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Korea National Insurance Corporation (KNIC) operates any branches in the UK; whether any KNIC staff are present in the UK; whether they have taken steps to sanction KNIC; and if so, what steps.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Korean National Insurance Corporation was designated by the European Union in July 2015. The UK has fully complied with all provisions of the sanctions regime.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of proposals by the European Commission to fine EU member states €250,000 for every refugee they decline to allow into their country.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
This is related to the European Commission’s proposal on a revised Dublin Regulation, which was published on 4 May 2016. Given the recent publication of this proposal and the significant amount of detail to consider, we are not in a position to give a clear view on this yet. An Explanatory Memorandum is due to be laid in Parliament in the week commencing 23 May which will include more detail of the government’s initial views. In any case the proposal is subject the UK’s opt-in protocol and we will only opt-in if it is in our national interest to do so.