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Written question asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench) on Thursday, 16 July 2015, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 30 July 2015. It was answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns (Conservative) on Wednesday, 29 July 2015 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

North Korea: Biological Weapons

Question

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report by 38 North that North Korea has the capacity to make anthrax; and what assessment they have made of claims by Im Cheon-Yong that anthrax and other biological agents have been tested on North Korean citizens, including disabled people.

Answer

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is a State Party to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. Under the Convention it is prohibited from developing, producing and stockpiling biological and toxin weapons, which include anthrax. As a confidence building measure, States should submit annual returns to report implementation of the Convention, but the DPRK has only ever submitted one such return (in 1990). This makes it extremely difficult for the international community to have confidence that they are meeting their obligations under the Convention.

We are aware of claims by Im Cheon-Yong, a former DPRK Special Forces officer who defected in the mid-1990s. The UN Commission of Inquiry into human rights violations in the DPRK considered this issue in their 2014 report but received no first-hand accounts. The Commission concluded it was not in a position to confirm these allegations, but noted them as subjects for further investigation.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL1522
Session
2015-16
Subjects
Biological weapons Anthrax North Korea
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk