Swiss Foreign Minister to Visit North Korea in Two Days to Attend Pyongyang Office Opening

▲ Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis is scheduled to visit North Korea starting on the 29th, the Swiss government announced on the 26th, local time.

According to Reuters, Minister Cassis will attend the official opening ceremony of the Swiss diplomatic office in Pyongyang on the 30th, the day after his arrival in North Korea. He is also set to meet with North Korean officials to discuss the resumption of consultations between the two countries' foreign ministries, security issues on the Korean Peninsula, and geopolitical matters.

Minister Cassis is then scheduled to travel to Seoul to hold talks with South Korean government officials.

The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs previously told Voice of America (VOA) on the 22nd that its diplomatic office in Pyongyang began operations on the 19th. The department explained that the office's mission is to "restore local communication channels that were severed with the suspension of operations at the previous humanitarian cooperation office in 2020 and to strengthen bilateral dialogue with North Korea."

Switzerland also emphasized to VOA that amidst escalating security tensions caused by a lack of regional communication channels, it is prepared to develop political dialogue with North Korea and play a mediating role for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

With the establishment of this diplomatic office, Switzerland will secure a political diplomatic foothold in Pyongyang for the first time in 52 years since establishing diplomatic ties with North Korea in 1974.

However, the Pyongyang office will operate under the direction of the Swiss Embassy in Beijing, which will continue to hold responsibility for diplomatic and consular relations with North Korea.

Switzerland had operated a humanitarian cooperation office in Pyongyang through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) under its foreign ministry since 1997, but that office did not function as a diplomatic mission.

Operations were subsequently suspended in 2020 when local staff were withdrawn due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, unlike Switzerland, which has been actively resuming exchanges with North Korea, the European Union (EU) has practically halted direct dialogue with North Korea.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)

※