§ Mr. H. Morrison (by Private Notice)asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has any further statement to make about the repatriation of interned British civilians in North Korea.
§ Mr. Selwyn LloydYes, Sir.
As the House is already aware, the Soviet Charge d'Affaires in London informed me on 18th March that, in response to my right hon. Friend's request to Mr. Gromyko on 17th February, the Soviet Government were willing to use their good offices with the North Korean authorities to secure the release of Captain Holt, formerly His late Majesty's Minister at Seoul, eight other British civilians and an Irish missionary detained in North Korea since June, 1950.
1373 On 28th March, the Soviet Government informed Her Majesty's Embassy in Moscow that six British subjects are interned in North Korea including Captain Holt: Mr. George Blake and Mr. Norman Owen, of the Legation staff; the Reverend A. C. Cooper, Bishop of Seoul; Commissioner H. Lord, of the Salvation Army; and Mr. Philip Deane, Correspondent of the "Observer." They also gave the name of the Irish missionary Father Quinlan.
The Soviet Government stated that they had also been informed by the North Korean authorities that two British civilians, Father Hunt and Sister Mary Clare, had died in 1950; and that a third, Father A. W. Lee, was not among those British subjects interned in North Korea and that nothing was known about him or his present whereabouts.
Consultations between the Soviet Government and the North Korean authorities are now continuing regarding the precise whereabouts of those interned and the method and route of their repatriation through China and the Soviet Union to Moscow. The Soviet Government have said that these arrangements may take some time to complete but that Her Majesty's Embassy will be informed in good time of their arrival in Moscow.
Her Majesty's Embassy have asked the Soviet Government to use their good offices to obtain from the North Korean authorities the cause and proof of death of Father Hunt and Sister Mary Clare, and to ask the North Korean authorities to pursue their inquiries regarding the present whereabouts of Father Lee. The Soviet Government have undertaken to transmit these requests to the North Korean authorities.
§ Mr. H. MorrisonWe are all glad that the Soviet Ambassador has informed the Foreign Secretary that the Soviet Government are interesting themselves beneficially in this matter, and we are glad that that should be so. But this reply does leave us in some condition of anxiety as to the speed with which this lady and these gentlemen will be released. We must also express some concern about the death of the two citizens to whom reference has been made, and the lack of knowledge as to where another one now is.
None of us wishes to say anything to stimulate friction at this point, but per- 1374 haps the right hon. and learned Gentleman would convey to the Soviet Ambassador the fact that all of us in this House are most anxious for the early release of these people and the settlement of this problem; and that, if it can be done with speed by the North Korean Government, through the representations of the Soviet Government, it would be beneficial to genuine international relations.
§ Mr. LloydI entirely agree with what the right hon. Gentleman has said, and certainly these views will be conveyed to the Soviet Ambassador.
§ Mr. DribergCan the right hon. and learned Gentleman say whether, before he made this generally very welcome statement today, he took steps to see that relatives of the two persons reported dead were informed?
§ Mr. Mott-RadclyffeWhile deeply regretting the death of the two persons to whom my right hon. and learned Friend referred, I ask him whether he could say if there is any information as to the remaining eight, and whether or not they are thought to be in good health?