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Two NATO member countries want to reopen their embassies in North Korea. Photo/Reuters
SEOUL – Two NATO countries want to open embassies (embassies) in North Korea. Although relations between NATO and North Korea often experience many problems.
However, the availability of diplomatic representatives is significant to support communications that are often obstructed.
2 NATO Member Countries Want to Reopen Embassies in North Korea
1. Germany
A delegation of German diplomats visited North Korea's capital Pyongyang for the first time since its embassy was closed during the pandemic. It comes as other European countries prepare for their return.
A team from the German Foreign Ministry is currently in Pyongyang on a technical inspection trip. “They have been checking the location of the German embassy for several days,” said a German Foreign Ministry spokesman. He noted there had still been no decision to reopen the embassy, which closed in March 2020.
Many embassies in Pyongyang are closed because they cannot rotate staff or deliver supplies during the COVID-19 crisis.
Already under authoritarian control, North Korea imposed some of the world's strictest pandemic measures, including a total travel ban and a large-scale border wall, and has recently begun easing international restrictions.
2. England
Britain, which closed its embassy and withdrew all its diplomatic staff from North Korea in May 2020, is also seeking to send a team, a Foreign Ministry spokesman told Reuters.
“We are pleased that several diplomats returned to Pyongyang and welcome the DPRK's move to reopen borders,” the spokesman said, using the initials of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
“We are in discussions with the North Korean government through its Embassy in London regarding arrangements for a visit by a British technical-diplomatic team in the near future.”
Britain called on North Korea to allow the international community, including all diplomats and UN agencies as well as humanitarian NGOs, to enter the country, the spokesman added.
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