North Korea Closing Embassies Around the World: Overview
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It has been confirmed that North Korea has also withdrawn its embassies in Guinea and Senegal. With these latest closures, North Korea has now shut down embassies in a total of seven countries. It is reducing the number of overseas diplomatic missions from 53 to 46.
A diplomatic official said on the 5th in a meeting with reporters, “North Korea has withdrawn its diplomatic missions from Guinea, Nepal, Bangladesh, Senegal, Spain, Angola, and Uganda.”
Embassy Withdrawal Criteria
The official stated that the government views the embassy withdrawal as finalized when North Korea officially notifies the host country about its intention to withdraw. They remove the embassy sign, put down the National flag, and ensure all embassy personnel have left the host country. These three criteria collectively define the completion of the embassy withdrawal process.
North Korean diplomatic offices are currently in the withdrawal process but have not yet met all three criteria. These include the embassy in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Consulate General in Hong Kong.
It has been reported that the withdrawal of the Consulate General in Hong Kong has not been updated on the list of resident diplomatic missions on the local administrative website. In Peru, the situation at the North Korean embassy is quite distinct. Since December of the same year, when Peru expelled all North Korean diplomats in September 2017 following North Korea’s sixth nuclear test, there has been virtually no activity at the embassy.
Financial Difficulties Cited
The government pointed to financial difficulties as the reason North Korea withdrew from overseas diplomatic missions. This is due to the increased difficulty in earning foreign currency due to strengthening sanctions against North Korea. However, North Korea will likely concentrate on key areas while substantially downsizing its embassies.
Some have raised the possibility that North Korea may establish some diplomatic missions to strengthen communication with Russia. In particular, the possibility of establishing a diplomatic mission in Nicaragua, which shows close cooperation with Russia, is high. This official analyzed, “In areas such as Southeast Asia, it appears that they will operate a hub system that closes small diplomatic missions and absorbs their functions and spaces.”
By. Park Young Hun
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