§ Mr DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the weapons of mass destruction which North Korea has admitted possessing. [98831]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienNorth Korea has not admitted to possession of any weapons of mass destruction. However, since being confronted by the US over its covert uranium enrichment programme in October 2002, a Foreign Ministry spokesman claimed on 25 October that North Korea was "entitled to possess" nuclear weapons as well as weapons "more powerful" than nuclear weapons.
North Korean possession of nuclear weapons would be a clear violation of its international obligations as a State Party to the NPT. North Korea is also a State Party to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, but has neither signed nor ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention.