A triumph for South Korean diplomacy and an example of Cuban pragmatism. North Korea's main ally during the Cold War on the American continent reestablished diplomatic relations with Seoul, broken since 1959, the year of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. The restoration of relations includes the opening of embassies in both countries.
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Through a press release, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported the reestablishment of diplomatic relations with South Korea.
On February 14, 2024, diplomatic and consular relations were established between the Republic of Cuba and the Republic of Korea, through an exchange of Diplomatic Notes carried out between the Permanent Representations of both countries before the United Nations, in New York, stated the notice.
In the document, Cuba justifies this diplomatic step under the protection of the United Nations Charter, International Law and “in accordance with the spirit and norms established in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of April 18, 1961.” The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs also announced the news and He added that the restoration is at the ambassador level.
The new diplomatic relations between Seoul and Havana mark an “important turn” for South Korea in its efforts to strengthen its diplomacy in the Latin American regionstated the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its statement.
With this step, Cuba now maintains diplomatic relations with all member countries of the United Nations (UN) except for Israel. For its part, as of February 14, South Korea only maintains broken diplomatic ties with Syria and its historical adversary, North Korea.
Cuba, historic ally of North Korea
The ties between South Korea and Cuba had been broken since 1959, mainly due to the historical, political and ideological alliance that exists between Havana and Pyongyang.
An alliance that owes its origin to the Cold War, a period in which the then two world superpowers, the United States and the former Soviet Union, competed for global supremacy. One of the battlefields was the Korean Peninsula, which led to the division of the peninsula into two completely opposite states: one socialist in the northern part and another capitalist in the south.
The Korean War, officially unfinished, had global repercussions. Diplomacy was another scenario of conflict in a world that operated under a bipolar logic.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro, Cuba radically changed its international policy to ally itself with the socialist bloc. It was then that Cuba and North Korea established diplomatic relations on August 29, 1960.
Relationships that remain solid today. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un considered the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro a “comrade in arms,” according to North Korean state media, and declared three days of official mourning in North Korea when Castro died in 2016.
A diplomatic turn
Despite the close ideological ties between Cuba and North Korea, the normalization of diplomatic relations between Cuba and South Korea had already been underway for almost a decade.
In May 2016, Havana and Seoul signed a memorandum of understanding to share information related to business, carry out exchanges between their delegations and organize joint forums.
In addition to interest in energy matters, South Korea considers that “Cuba is a potential market in the medical and tourism field on the American continent,” according to recent statements by the Ministry of Strategic Planning and Finance of Seoul.
The Cuban need to counteract policies of isolation and economic sanctions has made diplomacy one of the strategic axes of foreign policy in Havana.
Cuba had already taken a fundamental step in this strategy on July 20, 2015, when it reestablished diplomatic relations with the United States.
With Reuters and local media
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