Precisely when tensions have risen over the alliance with Moscow, the Kim Government accepted the credentials of the Swedish diplomat. He is the first Westerner who has been able to return to the country in a stable manner. Stockholm’s representatives in North Korea have always provided consular services to American citizens and have developed important mediation work. Although the North Korean leader continues to shout against Washington’s “provocations.”
Pyongyang (/Agencies) – Just as the axis with Moscow – with the sending of North Korean troops to the front of the war with Ukraine – is raising the temperature of the conflict in Asia, in recent hours a signal of countertrend. Indeed, yesterday the ceremony for the presentation of the credentials of the Swedish ambassador, Andreas Bengtsson, took place in the capital of North Korea. The news is significant because Stockholm becomes the first Western country to reopen its embassy in Pyongyang since the Covid-19 pandemic began.
The Korean Central News Agency reported that Bengtsson handed over his credentials, signed by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, during a ceremony at the Mansudae Assembly Hall. The credentials were received by Choe Ryong-hae, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly, on behalf of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
After the reopening of its borders in August 2023, until now only the embassies of a small group of countries favorable to Pyongyang had resumed their activities, including China, Russia, Mongolia and Cuba. That is why the situation in Sweden is considered a significant development in Western diplomatic efforts in North Korea.
Diplomatic relations with Stockholm have a long history. Already in 1973 Sweden was the first Western country to establish formal diplomatic relations with the isolated country. And over the years its embassy has not only provided consular services to American citizens in North Korea, but has also played a mediating role between Pyongyang and Washington.
It is worth asking, therefore, whether Bengtsson’s presence in the North Korean capital can help reopen a channel of dialogue with the West, at a time when Kim Jong-un has made the decision to enter directly into the conflict in Ukraine and has literally done blow up all the painstakingly built bridges with Seoul.
With Trump’s return to the White House, these days it has been remembered that the last direct negotiations between North Korea and the United States were held precisely with the magnate, in two summits held in Singapore and Vietnam in 2018 and 2019, although none of them led to significant agreements. But it must be added that in this sense the signals coming from Pyongyang do not seem encouraging: yesterday Kim spoke at a fair where he was exhibiting new weapons and stated that his country had done everything possible to enter into negotiations with the United States, but he ended up observing a again “Washington’s rigid hostile policy towards Pyongyang. Kim also again accused Washington of strengthening military alliances and deploying strategic weapons aimed at North Korea, “intensifying military pressure and provocations.”
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