Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 55: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on reports that North Korea has cancelled a nonaggression pact with South Korea and is preparing to test a long-range missile capable of reaching the state of Alaska, USA, in March 2009; and his further views on the potential impact of such an event on ongoing talks with North Korea. [5214/09]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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On 5 November last, in response to a Parliamentary Question in relation to the situation in North Korea, I was pleased to report on the resumption of the Six Party Talks Process, following a period in which this process had been stalled and was at risk of being reversed. Satisfactory progress continued into December when a further session of the Six Party Talks took place but, shortly afterwards, North Korea halted the process once again.

As the Deputy notes in his Question, the weeks since then have seen a serious deterioration in North Korea's relationship with South Korea, including the scrapping of all cooperation agreements and arrangements with the South, in response to the toughening policies of South Korean President, Lee Myung-Bak. Even more troubling is the announcement by North Korea that it is in the process of developing a long-range missile with the capacity to strike Alaska. I am deeply concerned by these developments.

China has played a highly constructive role in chairing the Six Party Talks and it is hoped that, following the recent meeting between North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Il, and senior Chinese envoy, Wang Jiarui, North Korea will be persuaded to return to the negotiating process. It is possible that the North Korean regime is putting on a show of strength, and testing the waters, in relation to the new Administration in the United States but such tactics are unhelpful and potentially very dangerous. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is visiting East Asia this week, including South Korea, China and Japan, and it can be expected that the stalemate in the Six Party Talks and in North Korean denuclearisation will be important points of discussion.

Apart from the issue of its nuclear armaments programme, many other issues in relation to North Korea remain of concern. While the North Korean regime continues to invest precious resources in its nuclear and military programmes, the country is suffering chronic food insecurity and high malnutrition rates, and remains reliant on external food assistance to meet the needs of its 23 million people. The problem is a long-term, structural one and it has been estimated by some international aid agencies that up to two million people may have died of hunger and associated complications over the last decade or so. The human rights situation is also deeply troubling, reflective of one of the most repressive regimes in the world. Also of concern are issues of transnational crime, including trafficking in people, especially women.