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First ever visit to North Korea by UK minister

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Aug 31, IRNA -- The British Foreign Office announced Tuesday 
that Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell will make a landmark visit 
to the Democratic People`s Republic of Korea (North Korea) in 
September. 
Rammell`s visit will be the first ever by a British Minister 
since the division of Korea at the end of World War Two over 50 
years ago. 
Speaking ahead of his trip, the Foreign Office Minister said that 
the UK "genuinely wants to engage with North Korea" and that he 
believed "the time is right for a British Minister to visit." 
He said he would be holding high level discussions with Foreign 
Minister Paek Nam Sun, and other senior figures, on a range of 
issues including North Korea`s nuclear program and its human 
rights record. 
The visit comes after British established diplomatic relations 
with the DPRK for the first time in December 2000 and opened an 
Embassy in Pyongyang in July 2001 with a Charge d`Affaires. 
Relations were upgraded when the UK sent its first ambassador, 
David Slinn, to Pyongyang in November 2002 but it was not until 
September last year that North Korea responded by sending Ri Yong Ho 
as ambassador to London. 
Rammell insisted that he would express the "UK`s deep concern at 
the DPRK`s nuclear program" during his visit. The nuclear program is 
a "matter of great concern for the entire international community," he
said. 
"I will urge North Korea to remain committed to the agreed 
objectives of the talks process, namely the denuclearization of the 
Korean Peninsula," he said in emphasizing that the UK fully 
supported the six party talks process. 
In his statement, the minister also said he would "convey the 
UK`s concern at the dreadful reports that we continue to hear about 
the human rights situation in the DPRK." 
"I want to get beyond the automatic denials. I will urge the 
North Korean authorities to comply with the resolutions of the UN 
Commission on Human Rights," he said. 
The Foreign Office said that the minister, who will also travel 
outside Pyongyang, would be accompanied by the head of its human 
rights department, Joe Benjamin his visit. 
HC/1412