North Korea: North Korea has announced that it is closing several diplomatic missions abroad over international sanctions that disrupt the country’s ability to finance its offices overseas.
The closures have already affected Spain, Hong Kong, Angola, and Uganda. According to reports, Pyongyang may close as many as 10 missions and embassies in total, which amounts to 20 percent of its current diplomatic presence.
“We are carrying out operations to withdraw and establish diplomatic missions in accordance with changing global environments and national foreign policy,” a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement. The statement also noted that “while some embassies would close, others would open.”
“The changes are part of regular affairs to promote their national interests in external relations,” the spokesperson added.
According to Seoul’s Ministry of Unification, North Korea has diplomatic ties with more than 150 countries but has relatively few embassies and consulates.
The country closed so many of its foreign missions for the last time in the 1990s, when it was facing a severe famine. According to reports, the country is facing major problems again, as sanctions have kept it from earning cash through secretive means ranging from manufacturing and IT services to hacking and military deals.
The Unification Ministry remarked that the diplomatic closures were a sign that the “strengthening of sanctions against North Korea has disrupted its foreign currency earnings.”
“This is a glimpse of North Korea’s dire economic situation, where it is difficult to maintain even minimal diplomatic relations with traditional allies,” the Ministry further added.
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