Germany–North Korea relations
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Germany–North Korea relations (
Germany and North Korea established diplomatic relations with each other in 2001.[1] The German embassy in Pyongyang remains in the old East German embassy compound, which is now shared with the Swedish and British embassies.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, there have been no visits of government delegations at ministerial level to Germany or North Korea. However, there have been several official visits to North Korea by members of the German Bundestag.
According to a 2013 BBC World Service Poll, only 3% of Germans view North Korea's influence positively, with 90% expressing a negative view, one of the most negative perceptions of North Korea in the world.[2]
History
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After the second world war, Korea was split into two parts: North and South Korea. North Korea under Kim Il Sung established during the Cold War diplomatic relationship with former East Germany (GDR), right after the foundation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on 9 September 1948.[3]
East Germany sought connections for trade, educational exchange and manifestations as a communist power with the Asian country. After the former
From 1955 to 1962, the East German government ran a large-scale programme to reconstruct the port cities of Hamhung and Hungnam which had been severely damaged by US air raids during the Korean War (1950–53). Called the Deutsche Arbeitsgruppe (DAG), the team consisted of city planners, architects, technical personnel and craftsmen, who built residential and industrial areas, hospitals, schools, hotels, a concert hall, and an outdoor swimming pool. The work was funded by the East German government and donations from East German citizens. The first Head of City Planning for the Hamhŭng project was the Bauhaus trained architect Konrad Püschel.[5][6]
After the
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the East German Embassy was closed until after German reunification. The former North Korean Embassy in East Berlin was turned into an Office for the Protection of the Interests of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, with the People's Republic of China acting as protecting power. The reunified Germany and North Korea established diplomatic relations on 1 March 2001.[11]
German embassy in Pyongyang
In 2001, the German Embassy in Pyongyang was reestablished and Germany tried to bring North Korea to the
But before the harsh international answer to the forbidden tests of missiles and nuclear weapons in North Korea, Germany was seeking a peaceful exchange with providing education on terms of scholarships for Korean students or bringing the German language to Korea. Therefore, Germany provides a position for a German lecturer with help from the
One reason was because of the Sunshine Policy of the former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung, a new and better diplomatic relationship with North Korea and few EU members were possible so that Germany as a cultural nation could set projects with for example the Goethe-Institut.[13] Because of UN-sanctions [14] Germany can recently not host North Korean researchers for example engineers or scientists.[15]
As German diplomats are not allowed to have an account in North Korea, they have to get everything from China, including cash and even their food.[16]
North Korean embassy in Berlin
After the readmission of the diplomatic bilateral relations between North Korea and Germany, like Germany did in Pyongyang, North Korea also moved back to their old embassy building in Berlin which they used at the time when Germany was still divided. The former ambassador of North Korea, Hong Chang-il, was replaced by the current ambassador Hong Ri-si in 2011.[17]
The once entirely occupied building for the North Korean representatives is only partly used for the embassy. The official building moved to the Glinkastrasse 5–7 in Berlin, so the other parts of this building nowadays are used among other things as a hostel for tourists. Germany threatened to shut down the hostel, in order to curb Pyongyang's nuclear weapons capability in May 2017.[18][19]
References
- ^ a b "Bilateral Relations, Korea (Democratic People's Republic of)". Federal Foreign Office (Germany). April 2015.
- ^ 2013 World Service Poll Archived 2015-10-10 at the Wayback Machine BBC
- ^ "Auswärtiges Amt". Auswärtiges Amt.
- ISBN 978-0-06-199850-8.
- ^ Dong-Sam Sin (2016) Die Planung des Wiederaufbaus der Städte Hamhung und Hungnam in Nordkorea durch die DAG-Städtebaubrigade der DDR von 1955 - 1962. A dissertation for HafenCity Universität Hamburg
- ^ Frank, Rüdiger (December 1996). Die DDR und Nordkorea. Der Wiederaufbau der Stadt Hamhŭng von 1954–1962. Aachen: Shaker.
- ^ Zylka, Jenni (24 June 2015). "Nordkoreaner in der DDR: Als die Politik die Liebe zerriss". Spiegel Online (in German).
- ^ "VERLIEBT VERLOBT VERLOREN". Verliebtverlobtverloren.de. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
- ^ "Soviet Disarray; Pyongyang Offers Honecker Refuge". The New York Times. 15 December 1991.
- ^ Grandsen, Gregory (14 December 1991). "North Korea offers Honecker refuge". UPI.
- ^ "Korea (Democratic People's Republic of)". Federal Foreign Office. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
- ^ "Aktueller Stand der Sanktionen gegen Nord-Korea". WKO.at. Archived from the original on 2016-10-01. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
- ^ Moeskes, Christoph, ed. (2013). Nordkorea. Einblicke in ein rätselhaftes Land (in German). Ch.Links.
- ^ "Korea (Democratic People". Auswärtiges Amt.
- ^ "Korea (Democratic People". Auswärtiges Amt. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
- ^ Geiger, Klaus (1 May 2021). "Blackbox Nordkorea – Die neue gefährliche Abschottung". Welt (in German).
- ^ "Embassy of Korea (Democratic Republic) in Berlin, Germany". www.embassypages.com.
- ^ North Korea's Berlin hostel targeted by German sanctions. BBC.
- ^ ドイツ北朝鮮大使館内ホテル完全閉鎖 旧東ベルリンの敷地内から北朝鮮なうも. KoreaWorldTimes (in Japanese). 2020-06-07. Retrieved 2020-06-08.