North Korea continues to close many of its limited embassies around the world, raising suspicions of an ongoing financial crisis.
The hermit kingdom will close its embassy in Nepal, according to reports on Friday.
This is at least the fifth country that North Korea has consciously withdrawn from in recent months, apparently for a diplomatic shake-up.
“We are carrying out operations to withdraw and establish diplomatic missions in accordance with the changed global environment and national diplomatic policy,” a spokesperson for North Korea’s Foreign Ministry wrote earlier this month, according to translations by the Agency. Yonhap News.
Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un approved the withdrawal from Nepal, Spain, Angola, Uganda and Hong Kong in recent months, causing some confusion among diplomats.
South Korean experts have said the closures indicate a rapid deterioration in the financial situation of their northern counterparts.
“The avalanche of measures appears to show that it is no longer feasible for the North to maintain diplomatic missions as its efforts to obtain foreign currency have stumbled due to tightening sanctions,” South Korea’s Unification Ministry said last month, according to Yonhap translations. .
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has approved the withdrawal of Nepal, Spain, Angola, Uganda and Hong Kong in recent months. AP
North Korea, unable to sustainably feed its own population through domestic production or standard trade, depends on the contribution of its allies (and sometimes even its enemies) to curb hunger.
Diplomats who have defected from the country have claimed that North Korean embassies are largely funded by illegal activities and illicit money-making projects.
North Korean diplomats around the world have previously caused international incidents by participating in or facilitating counterfeiting, human trafficking, drug trafficking and more.
Suspicions speculate that North Korea’s continued closure of embassies in different countries could be related to an ongoing financial crisis. RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGNERS/AFP via Getty Images
Concurrent with this diplomatic shakeup, Kim Jong-Un’s regime appears to be making great efforts to build relations with Russia and China.
Infamously secretive North Korea has hosted multiple diplomatic missions from both countries in recent months.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn