Mr Danby asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs, upon notice, on 11 September 2003:

(1) Can he confirm that Ri Chae-woo, a North Korean biological weapons expert, attempted to defect to the Australian consulate in Guangzhou on 5 September 2003; if so, (a) at what point did Australian diplomatic officials become aware of Mr Ri's attempt to defect, (b) were diplomatic officials able to verify his claim to have accumulated large volumes of evidence of human experiments by North Korean officials, and (c) was Mr Ri with members of his family when he tried to defect.

(2) Can he confirm that Mr Ri was arrested on the way to the consulate; if so, who else was arrested at the same time.

(3) Is he able to say where Mr Ri and the other members of his family are now.

(4) Is he able to say whether the Chinese government will deport Mr Ri to North Korea.

(5) Is he aware that unsuccessful defectors who are sent back to North Korea frequently face torture, imprisonment and possible death on return.

(6) Does the Government fear for Mr Ri's safety if he is deported to North Korea.

(7) Has the Government made any representations to the Chinese government about Mr Ri's safety; if so, what has been the response; if not, why not.

Mr Downer (Minister for Foreign Affairs) —The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows:

(1) No. I am unable to confirm reports that a North Korean biological weapons expert (Ri Chae-woo) was arrested attempting to enter the Australian Consulate-General in Guangzhou. If such an incident did take place, it would have been some distance away from the Consulate-General. Consulate-General staff were not aware of anybody trying to gain access to the office, nor of any commotion or incident outside the consulate offices in the building. The Consulate-General is located in a multi-story building that contains a number of foreign consulates, including Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the Philippines and Sweden.

(2) No. On 9 September a spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected media claims that a North Korean biological and chemical weapons expert had been arrested in front of the Australian Consulate-General in Guangzhou.

(3) No. The Australian Government has no information on the current whereabouts of Mr Ri or his family.

(4) No.

(5) The Government is concerned about the human rights situation in North Korea, and has and will continue to raise these concerns at every appropriate opportunity, including with the DPRK leadership.

(6) The Government will not comment on individual cases, or speculate on unconfirmed cases such as the media reports about Mr Ri.

(7) No. The details of the alleged incident are unclear, including whether the Australian Consulate-General was a target. Since the reports refer to a person who is not Australian and who was never inside the Consulate-General, Australia has limited standing to pursue any specific enquiries pertaining to this alleged case.