North Korea–Sweden

North Korea	Sweden
Diplomatic mission
Embassy of North Korea, Stockholm	Embassy of Sweden, Pyongyang
Envoy
AmbassadorRi Won Guk	Ambassador Andreas Bengtsson

Diplomatic relations betweenNorth Korea andSweden establishedbilateral relations since 7 April 1973. Sweden has had a long-term commitment in North Korea and its relations with the country are exceptionally close among Western nations.^[1][2] Sweden is one of the major contributors of humanitarian aid to North Korea.^[2]

Sweden took part in theKorean War by providing the Swedish Red Cross Field Hospital and participating in theNeutral Nations Supervisory Commission.^{[citation needed]}

The Swedish Red Cross Field Hospital was the name given to the Swedish mission sent toKorea to deal with the humanitarian situation created by theKorean War, from 1950 to 1953. Following the temporary resolution of the war in 1953, Sweden was heavily involved in maintaining the armistice through its position in the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission.^{[citation needed]}

Left-wing politicians in Sweden were campaigning for the recognition of North Korea on the basis that Sweden had already recognizedSouth Korea in 1959. North Korea established an information bureau inStockholm in 1970 and also held an exhibition presenting the country at theABF-huset [sv].^[3] Sweden and North Korea established formaldiplomatic relations on 7 April 1973.^[4]

In the 1970s,^[5] North Korean diplomats were discovered to run smuggling of cigarettes and liquor in Western Europe as part ofthe country's illicit activities to earn currency. Out of these smuggling rings, the largest one was in Sweden.^[6]

Swedish prime ministerGöran Persson visited North Korea, as the first Western leader in history, in 2001 to head aEuropean Union delegation for talks with then-leaderKim Jong-il.^[2][7]

In early 2018, North Korea's deputy foreign minister visited Sweden to discuss the upcoming2018 North Korea–United States summit with foreign ministerMargot Wallström and prime ministerStefan Löfven. His visit was followed by North Korea's foreign ministerRi Yong-ho in March 2018.^[1]

North Korea has an embassy in Sweden, and Sweden has one in North Korea:^[8]

• Embassy of Sweden, Pyongyang
• Embassy of North Korea, Stockholm [sv]

Sweden was the first Western country to establish an embassy in Pyongyang, in 1975, and remained the only one for 26 years to maintain ambassadorial presence. Few Western nations still have an embassy in Pyongyang, and the fact that Sweden does testifies of its important present-day role in the country. Through its embassy, Sweden represents consular interests ofAustralia,Canada,Italy, theNordic countries as well as theUnited States.^[2] Sweden often acts as an intermediary in negotiations between North Korea and Western countries,^[1] and has been especially active in improving the ties of North Korea and the United States.^[9]

In the 1970s, Sweden began to see North Korea as a lucrative market.^[2] Swedish companies likeVolvo,ASEA,Kockums,Atlas Copco, andAlfa Laval wanted to export their products to the country and held an industrial exhibition in Pyongyang.^[3] During that decade, North Korea imported various items,^[10] including about 1,000 Volvo automobiles that were never paid for, prompting Soviet diplomats to call it the "largest car theft in the human history". These Volvos were a common sighting in Pyongyang until the 2010s. They have since become increasingly difficult to maintain.^[11] North Korea still owes 2.2 billionSwedish kronor (234 million euros) to Sweden from these imports. Out of all countries, the North Korean debt to Sweden is the largest, followed byIraq whose debt is a billion kronor smaller.^[10]

Villy Bergström [sv], a former vice director of theSwedish National Bank, had visited North Korea in 1971 as ajournalist and written about his visit in a book,Bilder från Nordkorea [Images from North Korea]. At the time, the book was criticized for beinganti-Korean and too critical of the country. Later, it has been opposed as being too sympathetic toward North Korea.^[12] Bergström has never regretted the book, despite it being called inappropriate for a person holding such a high office.^[13]

• Foreign relations of North Korea
• Foreign relations of Sweden

• Bärtås, Magnus; Ekman, Fredrik (2014).Hirviöidenkin on kuoltava: Ryhmämatka Pohjois-Koreaan [All Monsters Must Die: An Excursion to North Korea] (in Finnish). Translated by Eskelinen, Heikki. Helsinki: Tammi.ISBN 978-951-31-7727-0.
• Lankov, Andrei (2013).The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia. Oxford: OUP USA.ISBN 978-0-19-996429-1.
• Wertz, Daniel; Oh, JJ; Kim, Insung (August 2016).Issue Brief: DPRK Diplomatic Relations(PDF). The National Committee on North Korea.Archived(PDF) from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved19 January 2017.

• Andersson, Magnus; Jinsun Bae (2015). "Sweden's Engagement with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea".North Korean Review.11 (1):42–62.JSTOR 43908955.
• Bergström, Villy; Silberstein, Benjamin Katzeff (2010) [1972].Bilder från Nordkorea (in Swedish) (vintage ed.). Stockholm: Atlas.ISBN 978-91-7389-951-2.
• Cornell, Erik (2002).North Korea Under Communism: Report of an Envoy to Paradise. London: Routledge.ISBN 978-0-7007-1697-5.
• Lamm, Lovisa (2012).Ambassaden i Paradiset: Sveriges unika relation till Nordkorea (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt.ISBN 978-91-1-303510-9.
• "North Korea owes Sweden €300m for 1,000 Volvos it stole 40 years ago".Newsweek. 29 August 2014.
• Roden, Lee (14 August 2017)."What exactly is Sweden doing in North Korea?".The Local.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toRelations of North Korea and Sweden.

• North Korean embassy in Stockholm
• Swedish embassy in Pyongyang

• North Korea–Sweden relations
• Bilateral relations of North Korea
• Bilateral relations of Sweden

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