Poland moves to reopen embassy in North Korea closed during COVID pandemic

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland said Friday it is reactivating its embassy in North Korea’s capital to become the second Western nation after Sweden to resume operations that were suspended due to Pyongyang’s tight COVID-19 restrictions.

The move by NATO member Poland opens another channel of communication between NATO states and Pyongyang, a close ally of Russia, which has provided troops to fight in Ukraine. New NATO member Sweden resumed activity at its Pyongyang mission in September.

Polish Foreign Ministry representatives were in the North Korean capital this week as Poland seeks to restore its diplomatic presence. “The visit is of a technical and political nature and one of its main goals is to restore the permanent diplomatic presence,” the ministry said.

The Polish embassy was closed in December 2020 after the North Korean authorities announced a complete closure of the state border due to COVID-19. That made the normal work of the diplomatic mission “impossible,” the ministry said.

Sweden, which became a NATO member in March, also represents the interests of other countries who don’t have embassies in Pyongyang at its mission that reopened in September.

The restored diplomatic channels will be helpful given developments in the war in Ukraine.

NATO and the European Union — to which Poland and Sweden also both belong — have been ramping up efforts to persuade China to help get North Korea to stop sending troops and other support to Russia to back its war on Ukraine.

Up to 12,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia’s Kursk border region to help beat back Ukrainian forces there, according to U.S., South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence assessments. NATO says Russia is sending missile technology to North Korea in return.