.png) | |
 North Korea |  Romania |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| DPRK Embassy,Bucharest | Embassy of Romania,Pyongyang |
| Envoy | |
| Kim Son Gyong | Ambassador Andy Avram, Chargé d'Affaires a.i. |
TheDemocratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) andRomania have maintained limited bilateral relations since theRomanian Revolution ofDecember 1989. Relations between the two countries began on October 26, 1948, when Romania was part of theEastern Bloc. Romania has an embassy inPyongyang and North Korea has an embassy inBucharest.
TheRomanian People's Republic formally recognized theDemocratic People's Republic of Korea on October 26, 1948 as the sole legitimate government of the entireKorean Peninsula. Both countries were allies during theKorean War in the early-1950s.[1] In the following years, the two countries had little contact.[2]
On June 15, 1971, thepresident of the newly renamedSocialist Republic of Romania,Nicolae Ceaușescu, visitedNorth Korea.[3][4][5][6] He took great interest in the idea of total national transformation as embodied in the programs of theWorkers' Party of Korea. He was also inspired by thepersonality cult ofKim Il Sung. According to the British journalistEdward Behr, Ceaușescu admired Kim as a leader because he dominated his nation and broke free from Soviet control, combining totalitarian methods with ultra-nationalist and communist ideologies.[7] Behr wrote that the possibility for "vastPotemkin villages for the hoodwinking of gullible foreign guests" that Ceaușescu had seen in North Korea was something that never seemed to have crossed his mind before.[7]
Upon his return to Romania, Ceaușescu began to emulateNorth Korea's system, influenced by Kim'sJuche philosophy. He issued theJuly Theses, a set of proposals that tightened government control over Romanian media, promotednationalism, and intensifiedhis personality cult. North Korean books onJuche were translated intoRomanian and widely distributed inside the country.[8] The militaries of both countries began to co-operate on sensitive issues.[2] At the same time, Romania had a rapprochement with the United States. In 1973, North Korea tried to use Romania as an intermediary with the US, but the Romanian diplomats did not want to harm their developing relationship with the US.[2]
In 1978, Romanian painterDoina Bumbea was abducted by the North Korean government. This may have been with the intention of providing Americandefectors in the country with non-Korean wives to avoid the birth of ethnically mixed Koreans.[9] Romanian officials and governmental institutions have been left aware of Bumbea's case, but they have not given much importance to it.[10]
Relations between North Korea and Romania deteriorated after Romania's Communist regime fell.Ceausescu's execution during the 1989Romanian Revolution and the 1991dissolution of the Soviet Union resulted in Romania rejectingtotalitarian ideologies still promoted in the DPRK. Romania allied itself with nations hostile to the DPRK: it establishedrelations with North Korea's rival theRepublic of Korea (South Korea) on March 30, 1990, enteredNATO in 2004, and joined theEuropean Union in 2007.[11] However, it continues to maintain ties in the educational field.[2]
In 2016, theRomanian Foreign Affairs Ministry reacted to North Korea'shydrogen bomb test that occurred in January with a statement of concern that this test posed "... a challenge to peace and security in the region".[12]
In October 2021, Romania closed its embassy in North Korea, possibly only temporarily, as a result of the strictCOVID-19 pandemic containment measures taken by the North Korean government that made the operation of the embassy and the entry and exit to the country highly complicated. Before this, Romania was the only country in theEuropean Union to have a diplomatic embassy in North Korea. The embassy may not reopen due to high maintenance costs.[13]
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