UK diplomat 'goes native' with North Korea eulogy

BRITAIN'S ambassador to North Korea has been accused of "going native" after writing an extraordinary eulogy of life under dictator Kim Jong II.

Peter Hughes waxed lyrical about the "festive" atmosphere at elections in the Communist dictatorship this month.

Glossing over the fact that opposition parties are not allowed to stand in elections, he devoted a page on the Foreign Office website to an admiring portrait of polling day in capital Pyongyang.

"There was a very festive atmosphere throughout the city..." he wrote.

"Outside the central polling stations there were bands playing and people dancing and singing to entertain the queues of voters waiting patiently.

"The booths selling drinks and snacks were very popular with the crowds and everyone seemed to be having a good time."

Mr Hughes added: "There was a reported turn-out of over 99 per cent of the voters and all the candidates, including Kim Jong Il, were elected with 100 per cent approval."

Voting is compulsory in North Korea, which has food shortages and a bad human rights record.

One reader of the blog wrote: "Is this just a press release from the North Korea news agency?"

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Ed Davey, whose Kingston constituency is home to thousands of Koreans, said: "This is taking 'going native' to another level."

Mr Hughes insisted he would not "apologise for portraying Pyongyang as a normal city".

"My entry was not intended as political commentary, rather it was an opportunity to show that Pyongyang is not a dark and evil place populated by demons, but a city inhabited by human beings who make the best of their lives in spite of the difficulties they face on a daily basis," he added.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are under no illusions about the situation in North Korea. As Peter Hughes himself makes clear, North Korea is 'not an idyllic country'.