North Korea is markedly increasing diplomatic overtures to Africa amid tighter UN sanctions that are further isolating the country.
North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs head Park Ui-chun is leading a delegation to Africa, and arrives in Benin on Thursday. Park’s visit to the resource-rich continent is the fifth from North Korea this year, with propaganda secretary and member of the Political Bureau Kim Ki-nam visiting Equatorial Guinea earlier this month.
This year’s visiting parties have come from all three sectors of North Korea’s ruling elite, comprised of members from the military, party and government, as opposed to 2012, when only one official North Korean visit was made.
North Korea is emphasizing in its relations with Africa “South-South Cooperation,” a term coined to describe the promotion of technological, economic and knowledge exchanges between developing nations. The Korean Central News Agency quoted the North’s newspaper Rodong as having said that strengthening ties among developing nations was the “movement of the times” in creating a world of truly sovereign nation-states.
North Korea is currently suffering under UN Security Council sanctions, which even traditional-ally China has actively endorsed.
Korea’s modern diplomatic relations with Africa date back to the 1960s when both North and South competed for diplomatic recognition on the continent.
The North held closer ties with many African nations during the Cold War as an active participant in the non-aligned movement, attempting to gain diplomatic support against the United States, although analysts downplay the North’s influence in Africa today.
The South has boosted its diplomatic ties to Africa, with bilateral trade totaling more than $8 billion in 2012, according to the Korea International Trade Association. South Korean embassies outnumbered North Korean embassies 19 to 10 in Africa as of 2012.
By Jeong Hunny ()
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
