Swiss foreign minister visits North Korea for first time since 2003
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis visited Pyongyang on 29 and 30 October as Switzerland reopened its diplomatic office in North Korea. He then travelled to Seoul to meet South Korean officials.
Switzerland has formally reopened its diplomatic office in the North Korean capital Pyongyang, and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis has become the first Swiss foreign minister to visit the country since 2003. He was in Pyongyang on 29 and 30 October before travelling on to Seoul, the South Korean capital. The Swiss foreign ministry said on Saturday that the trip was meant to restore direct political dialogue with North Korea while keeping contact with both sides of the divided peninsula.
The office in Pyongyang
The office resumed operations on 19 October. It reports to the Swiss embassy in Beijing, which remains responsible for diplomatic and consular relations with North Korea. The previous Swiss office in Pyongyang handled humanitarian cooperation and was closed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The two countries have had diplomatic relations since 1974, but regular political consultations stopped after 2019. Bern says the new office will let Switzerland deal directly with North Korean authorities and follow developments in the region.
Talks in Pyongyang
Cassis met North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui and Jo Yong Won, secretary of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party. His talks with Choe covered restoring political dialogue, security on the Korean Peninsula and wider security challenges in Europe and Asia. Cassis told the Swiss news agency Keystone-ATS that he offered Switzerland's help in facilitating dialogue to ease tensions, and that the proposal appeared to have been well received. North Korea's state news agency KCNA said the ministers discussed diplomatic cooperation and international issues in a "friendly atmosphere", without giving details.
Seoul hopes for engagement
In Seoul on 30 and 31 October, Cassis met National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac and senior foreign ministry official Jeong Yeon-du, whom he briefed on the Pyongyang talks. According to South Korea's foreign ministry, Jeong hoped the Swiss office would help Seoul engage with the North.
The visit came amid renewed military tension. South Korea's military said North Korea fired around 10 short-range ballistic missiles towards the sea on Thursday, a day after Seoul renewed its call for military talks to prevent accidental border clashes. Switzerland has helped monitor the armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War since 1953 through the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission at Panmunjom. Cassis also met the head of the Swiss delegation there to discuss the security situation.
