Why N. Korea may be opening doors to UN, Western diplomats after pandemic

UN, 평양주재 조정관 신규 임명 북한 외교 다변화 시도 왜? The United Nations has appointed its new resident coordinator to North Korea, which Pyongyang has approved. The regime is opening its doors to the UN as well as Western diplomats, possibly to diversify its diplomatic contact channels. Our North Korean affairs correspondent Kim Jung-sil explains what could be behind Pyongyang’s motivation. After a long period of isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea is finally allowing the UN to send a resident coordinator back to Pyongyang. On Friday, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Joe Colombano of Italy as a resident coordinator to the DPRK. Pyongyang has already approved this, and Colombano, who is working remotely from UN offices in Bangkok, is expected to head to the North shortly. The decision to open its doors to the UN came alongside North Korea’s recent attempts to welcome Western diplomats. Early last week, the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang announced that a German diplomat in charge of East Asia affairs visited the North. This was the first time for a Western diplomat to visit Pyongyang since the North closed its borders due to the pandemic, such an isolationary measure saw most diplomats return to their home countries. North Korea’s recent moves were noticed by the South Korean government. A senior official from the unification ministry told reporters on Tuesday that Seoul welcomes actions by the reclusive regime to open its doors to Western countries. Because until now, Pyongyang has been heightening exchanges with only a handful of countries including Russia and China, isolating itself from the rest of the world. Professor Park Won-gon of Ewha Womans University says Pyongyang has clear intentions behind its recent moves. “The international community considers North Korea as a rogue and pariah state so that’s why they are trying to open up and more actively engage with the world. And at the same time, this kind of activity means that it (the North) can a little bit undermine South Korea, U.S., and Japan’s cooperation.“ Professor Park added South Korea’s recent establishment of diplomatic ties with Cuba may also have had some kind of impact on Pyongyang’s actions to expand its diplomatic channels. Kim Jung-sil, Arirang News. #UN #NorthKorea #Diplomacy #Resident_coordinator #JoeColombano #유엔 #북한 #조정관 #조콜럼바노 #Arirang_News #아리랑뉴스 📣 Facebook : 📣 Twitter : 📣 Homepage : 2024-03-05, 18:00 (KST)