North Korea's envoy to the UK, Ambassador Hyon Hak-bong, has said that performances conducted by a troupe of disabled North Korean youths in Europe are not acts of political propaganda to improve Pyongyang's image overseas, but genuine attempts at cultural exchange.

The Ambassador, making the comments in a rare video interview shot on February 21, rejected claims of human rights abuses in North Korea and denied that a recent "Youth Para Ensemble" tour of the UK had been staged to alter negative foreign perceptions of the country.