§ Mr. WigginTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent admission by the Government of North Korea that they are in possession of weapons of mass destruction. [83881]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienNorth Korea has not to our knowledge explicitly stated that it possesses weapons of mass destruction. We understand that in bilateral 527W US/North Korean discussions on 4 October North Korean officials admitted that they had been pursuing a covert programme for the enrichment of Uranium.
The possession of nuclear weapons would be a breach of a number of North Korea's international obligations. On 17 October my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary said in press statement:
This admission of a nuclear weapons programme is a serious violation of North Korea's commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, its safeguards agreement with the IAEA and the US/North Korea Agreed Framework. We are in contact with our international partners about the implications…World opinion is united in calling for North Korea to comply with its international obligations and to eliminate its nuclear weapons programme