North Korea has decided to close its embassy in Uganda, a long-time ally, to reduce the number of embassies in the region and “increase efficiency,” a Ugandan government-owned news network reported on Monday.
According to UBC, the DPRK’s Ambassador Jong Tong Hak informed Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of the decision in a meeting on Monday but stressed bilateral relations between the two countries will continue.
“Our good friendship will continue and will be further strengthened and developed. I convey this commitment from my government,” Ambassador Jong said, according to UBC.
Jong reportedly stated that diplomatic relations between the two countries will now be coordinated through its mission in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, as part of a “strategic measure” to streamline operations by reducing the number of DPRK embassies in Africa.
The news comes after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a congratulatory message to President Museveni earlier this month promising that relations with the country will “continue to expand.”
Benjamin R. Young, an assistant professor of homeland security and emergency preparedness at Virginia Commonwealth University, said the move is “surprising” as Uganda has long been one of Pyongyang’s closest partners in sub-Saharan Africa.
“From North Korea sending military specialists to train Ugandan security services to arms deals between the two, North Korea and Uganda have deep historical ties,” he told NK News.
“Nonetheless, financial issues are likely the reason for the closing of the DPRK Embassy in Kampala and may speak to broader issues with the DPRK foreign ministry,” he added.
North Korea and Uganda officially established diplomatic relations in Aug. 1972, a year after military dictator Idi Amin seized power.
Pyongyang’s early engagement with Kampala came amid broader efforts to forge ties with developing nations in Africa and elsewhere, and even before formally establishing relations it wooed Amin’s new regime by inviting a high-level military delegation to Pyongyang in April 1972.
In subsequent years, the DPRK provided arms and military training and agreed to help build a weapons factory in Uganda. Its cultural influence was also evident when Amin asked Pyongyang to provide training for a Ugandan version of the Mass Games, North Korea’s controversial large-scale gymnastics event.
When current leader Yoweri Museveni took power in 1986, he inherited an arsenal of North Korean weapons, prompting him to request further support with training from Pyongyang.
Museveni also visited North Korea thrice between 1987 and 1992, meeting Kim Il Sung, and reportedly claimed later that North Korea’s founder even taught him some Korean.
But engagement between the countries decreased in the 2010s as Uganda strengthened ties with South Korea and North Korea’s nuclear and missile development made it an international pariah.
Kampala eventually announced that it would cease military cooperation with the DPRK in 2016, but maintained that diplomatic relations would continue. In Dec. 2016, the Ugandan government announced that it had disengaged with North Korea in “areas where sanctions apply.”
A U.N. Panel of Experts report published in 2017, however, alleged North Korea’s mission in Uganda reached out to Sudan in Oct. 2016 about renewing military cooperation, highlighting the importance of North Korea’s missions for its business on the African continent.
The 2020 documentary film “The Mole” purported to show the start of plans for North Korea to build an underground weapons factory on a private Ugandan island, as the two countries allegedly worked together to circumvent U.N. sanctions and sell weapons to Syria and elsewhere.
Source : NK News