12 February 1993
BY FAX
Ms Annette Lee
APA (G)
RESTRICTED
186/1
Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY London SWIA 2AH
FILE
ра
5.
1
HONG KONG.
Office of the Political Adviser
1935
Telephone: 071-
DESK OFFICER
REGISTRY
INDEX
PA
Action fakul
Dear Annette,
REVIVAL OF KAL-007 COMPENSATION CLAİMS
14
1. Thank you for your fax and for the list of the Hong Kong victims of the KAL-007 incident.
2. Our records show that a claim was made by the United Kingdom on behalf of fourteen people: thirteen of them holders of Hong Kong documents (list attached). This tallies with your list except for Merrylou Covey (a Canadian citizen) and two further names, Chun Lan Yeh and Trushar Patel, for whom I presume no claim was made.
3.
I attach a paper which the American Embassy has given us. It requests that the sections entitled "Background" and "Position Paper on Families Issue" be passed on to the relatives of all UK victims of the incident. I would be grateful if these sections could be extracted from the paper and passed to the next-of-kin of the thirteen victims in Hong Kong by the relevant department of Hong Kong Government. I imagine they will have to be translated first.
4. As stated in the American paper, the next stage in the KAL-007 compensation claim is the meeting in Moscow on 24/25 February. This will also cover matters such as the recovery of remains and the establishment of a memorial to the victims. A representative from the British Embassy will attend. If there is any particular Hong Kong angle which ought to be considered at this stage, please let us know.
5. In the meantime Eastern Department are preparing to submit to Ministers recommending that the compensation claims be revived. They will need to know as far as possible the likely thoughts of the next-of-kin in Hong Kong on such a move and any comments which Hong Kong Government may have. Grateful for any advice you can give on these points.
6.
On an operational point, you may prefer for us to deal directly with the relevant department of HKG rather than through your office. If so, perhaps you could let me know the name of the contact person. We shall certainly keep you informed of developments.
RESTRICTED