Foreign Relations of North Korea - History

History

After 1945, the Soviet Union supplied the economic and military aid that enabled North Korea to mount its invasion of the South in 1950. Soviet aid and influence continued at a high level during the Korean war; as mentioned, the Soviet Union was largely responsible for rebuilding North Korea's economy after the cessation of hostilities. In addition, the assistance of Chinese volunteers during the war and the presence of these troops until 1958 gave China some degree of influence in North Korea. In 1961, North Korea concluded formal mutual security treaties with the Soviet Union (inherited by Russia) and China, which have not been formally ended. For most of the Cold War, North Korea followed a policy of equidistance between the Soviet Union and China by accepting favors from both while avoiding a clear preference for either.

During the 70s, North Korea used a two-part diplomatic strategy: first, it continued reaching out to third world countries where China had already established economic and diplomatic influence, particularly in Africa. Second, North Korea established diplomatic relations with some European countries in an effort to develop its economy and expand its foreign ties. Unlike China, which established new ties across a broad political spectrum, North Korea concentrated its diplomatic efforts on European countries with strong left-wing parties such as Portugal and Denmark, and on neutral countries such as Austria and Switzerland.

As a result of its diplomatic activity, North Korea established relations with 63 countries in a decade. However, by the late 1970s, momentum lagged, caused by tense inter-Korean relations, the North’s default on foreign loans, and reports of drug smuggling by its diplomats (in 1976-77, North Korean diplomats were accused of smuggling drugs into countries as far-ranging as Norway, Venezuela, and India).

In the 1970s and early 1980s, the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and China, the Soviet-backed Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia, and the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan created strains between China and the Soviet Union and, in turn, in North Korea's relations with its two major communist allies. North Korea tried to avoid becoming embroiled in the Sino-Soviet split, obtaining aid from both the Soviet Union and China and trying to avoid dependence on either. Following Kim Il Sung's 1984 visit to Moscow, there was a dramatic improvement in Soviet-DPRK relations, resulting in renewed deliveries of advanced Soviet weaponry to North Korea and increases in economic aid.

During the 1980s, the pace of North Korea’s establishment of new diplomatic relations slowed considerably. The country’s links to terrorist acts abroad, its economic weakness relative to South Korea, and the collapse of the Eastern Bloc all contributed to this dynamic over the course of the decade. North Korea’s terrorist act in Burma in 1983 and its bombing of Korean Airlines flight 858 in 1987 were both strongly internationally criticized. Burma, which had relations with both North and South Korea, "de-recognized" the DPRK and expelled North Korean officials in response to the attempted assassination of South Korean president Chun Doo-hwan in Rangoon.

South Korea established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union in 1990 and the People's Republic of China in 1992, which put a serious strain on relations between North Korea and its traditional allies. Moreover, the fall of communism in eastern Europe in 1989 and the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 had resulted in a significant drop in communist aid to North Korea, resulting in largely decreased relations with Russia. Despite these changes and its past reliance on this military and economic assistance, North Korea proclaims a militantly independent stance in its foreign policy in accordance with its official ideology of Juche, or self-reliance.

At the same time, North Korea maintains membership in a variety of multilateral organizations. It became a member of the United Nations in September 1991. North Korea also belongs to the Food and Agriculture Organization; the International Civil Aviation Organization; the International Postal Union; the UN Conference on Trade and Development; the ITU; the UN Development Programme; the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization; the World Health Organization; the World Intellectual Property Organization; the World Meteorological Organization; the International Maritime Organization; the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Non-Aligned Movement.

In July 2000, North Korea began participating in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), as Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun attended the ARF ministerial meeting in Bangkok July 26–27. The DPRK also expanded its bilateral diplomatic ties in that year, establishing diplomatic relations with Italy, Australia, and the Philippines. The United Kingdom established diplomatic relations with the DPRK on December 13, 2000, as did Canada in February 2001 followed by Germany and New Zealand on March 1, 2001. Mexico maintains diplomatic relations with North Korea. Other countries such as France, the United States, and South American nations (except Brazil) do not have formal diplomatic ties with North Korea and have not announced any intention to have any. North Korea, however, maintains a delegation, not an embassy, near Paris.

Steps have been taken to normalize US and Japanese ties since the landmark February 13, 2007 agreement reached, in exchange for North Korea freezing its nuclear facility at Yongbyon.