Iran–North Korea relations
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Iran–North Korea relations ( ko, 이란-조선민주주의인민공화국 관계; fa, روابط ایران و کرۀ شمالی) are described as being positive by official news agencies of the two countries. Diplomatic relations improved following the
Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
in 1979 and the establishment of an
Islamic Republic The term Islamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a theoretical form of Islamic theocratic government enforcing sharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been u ...
.
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
pledge cooperation in educational, scientific, and cultural spheres. Some media reports claim this cooperation extends to nuclear cooperation, though official U.S. government publications and academic studies have disputed this. The United States has been greatly concerned by North Korea's arms deals with Iran, which started during the 1980s with North Korea acting as a third party in arms deals between the Communist bloc and Iran, as well as selling domestically produced weapons to Iran, and North Korea continues selling missiles to Iran. North Korea and Iran are the remaining two members of
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
's " Axis of evil", which has led to many of the concerns regarding Iran–North Korea relations. The United States of America designates both nations as State Sponsors of Terrorism, and they reciprocate this shared enmity. Despite this, Iran is one of the few countries in the world that has a good relationship with both North and South Korea.


History

The Persian-Korean relationship started with cultural exchanges date back to the
Three Kingdoms of Korea Samhan or the Three Kingdoms of Korea () refers to the three kingdoms of Goguryeo (고구려, 高句麗), Baekje (백제, 百濟), and Silla (신라, 新羅). Goguryeo was later known as Goryeo (고려, 高麗), from which the modern name ''Kor ...
era, more than 1600 years ago by the way of the Silk Road. A dark blue glass was found in the Cheonmachong Tomb, one of Silla's royal tombs unearthed in Gyeongju, and an exotic golden sword was found in Gyerim-ro, a street also located in Gyeongju. These relics are presumed to have been sent to Silla from ancient Iran or Persia through the Silk Road. It was only the Koryeo Dynasty during King Hyeonjong's reign when trade with Persia was officially recorded in Korean history. But in academic circles, it is presumed that both countries had active cultural exchanges during the 7th century Silla era which means the relationship between Korea and Iran dates to 1500 years ago. "In a history book written by the Persian scholar
Ibn Khordadbeh Abu'l-Qasim Ubaydallah ibn Abdallah ibn Khordadbeh ( ar, ابوالقاسم عبیدالله ابن خرداذبه; 820/825–913), commonly known as Ibn Khordadbeh (also spelled Ibn Khurradadhbih; ), was a high-ranking Persian bureaucrat and ...
, it states that Silla is located at the eastern end of China and reads 'In this beautiful country
Silla Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms of K ...
, there is much gold, majestic cities and hardworking people. Their culture is comparable with Persia'. Other items uncovered during the excavation include a silver bowl engraved with an image of the Persian goddess Anahita; a golden dagger from Persia; clay busts; and figurines portraying Middle Eastern merchants. ''
Samguk sagi ''Samguk Sagi'' (, ''History of the Three Kingdoms'') is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla. The ''Samguk Sagi'' is written in Classical Chinese, the written language of the literati of ancient Korea, ...
'' — the official chronicle of the Three Kingdoms era, compiled in 1145 — contains further descriptions of commercial items sold by Middle Eastern merchants and widely used in Silla society. During the first decades of the Cold War, the Imperial State of Iran had no relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, particularly due to Iran having relations with the Republic of Korea that were established in 1962. Both countries were allied in the U.S.-led Western Bloc. In 1971-1972, the DPRK expressed support for Iraq's territorial claims against Iran, and condemned the Iranian seizure of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs. In September 1972, however, the visit of an Iranian table tennis team in the DPRK indicated the start of a rapprochement between Pyongyang and Tehran. In April 1973, Iran established diplomatic relations with North Korea, a decision that Deputy Foreign Minister
Ahmad Mirfendereski Ahmad Mirfendereski (9 May 1918–2 May 2004) was an Iranian diplomat, politician and the last minister of foreign affairs of the Shah era in Iran. Career Mirfendereski began his career at the ministry of foreign affairs and held many posts ther ...
justified on the grounds that "keeping the North Koreans isolated would not serve a useful purpose; on the contrary, bringing them more fully into the diplomatic world would make them behave more responsibly." In the following years, the two states concluded various bilateral agreements related to trade and payment (1973), cultural cooperation (1974), and inter-news agency (1978), but Iran's overall contacts with the DPRK lagged far behind its extensive cooperation with the ROK. In 1979, the pro-U.S. monarchy was deposed and was replaced with an Islamic Republic, which facilitated the improvement of Iranian-North Korean relations. North Korea's
Rodong Sinmun ''Rodong Sinmun'' (; ) is a North Korean newspaper that serves as the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. It was first published on November 1, 1945, as ''Chŏngro'' (), serving as a communication channel ...
consistently refrained from covering the Iranian protests until the departure of the Shah and the collapse of Shahpour Bakhtiar’s provisional government, but once
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
established his administration, the DPRK diplomats in Tehran made intense efforts to ingratiate themselves with him. During the Iran hostage crisis, North Korea was one of the few states that openly sided with Tehran against Washington. In January 1980, the DPRK concluded its first trade agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran. In early October 1980, shortly after the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War, three Iranian Boeing 747 cargo planes flew to North Korea and returned with medical supplies and artillery shells, which is the first known instance of military cooperation between the countries. Despite the two countries' shared antagonism to U.S. foreign policies, the specific national interests of the North Korea and the Islamic Republic of Iran were often considerably different from each other. For instance, North Korea, though it provided Iran with military assistance during the Iran–Iraq War (an act that induced Baghdad to break diplomatic relations with Pyongyang on 10 October 1980), made repeated attempts to normalize its relations with the Iraqi government. In 1982, the North Korean authorities secretly invited an Iraqi delegation to Pyongyang, but the Iraqi government sent only an unofficial representative. In 1983, the head of the DPRK trade office in Kuwait attempted to persuade Iraqi Foreign Minister
Tariq Aziz Tariq Aziz ( ar, طارق عزيز , 28 April 1936 – 5 June 2015) was an Iraqi politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and a close advisor of President Saddam Hussein. Their association began in the 1950s wh ...
to allow North Korea to reopen its embassy in Baghdad, but to no avail, because the DPRK wanted to reach reconciliation with Iraq without discontinuing its arms shipments to Iran. These aborted North Korean initiatives revealed that Pyongyang was not ideologically committed to Iran's crusade against
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...
. In turn, the Iranian leaders decided to maintain diplomatic relations with both North and South Korea. During the recent inter-Korean security crises (like the
ROKS Cheonan sinking The ROKS ''Cheonan'' sinking occurred on 26 March 2010, when , a of the Republic of Korea Navy, carrying 104 personnel, sank off the country's west coast near Baengnyeong Island in the Yellow Sea, killing 46 seamen. The cause of the sinkin ...
and the Bombardment of Yeonpyeong), Iranian news agencies usually quoted the statements of the Korean Central News Agency in parallel with the statements made by Western and South Korean politicians, without showing any detectable preference for either side. Nor were the two states in full concord in adopting a position toward the various manifestations of international terrorism. On the one hand, both Iran and the North Korea provided military assistance to
Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...
in Lebanon, and they actively sided with Syrian president
Bashar al-Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the ...
against the Syrian wing of the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...
during the Syrian civil war. On the other hand, North Korea and Iran held substantially different views about the conflicts in which the
Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
,
Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as ''Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād'' ( ar, جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد, lit=Group of the People of Sunnah for Dawah and Jihad), is an Islamic terrorist organization ...
, and the Iraqi wing of ISIL were involved. While the North Koreans stressed that U.S. efforts to suppress these organizations constituted interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Iraq, the Iranian leaders, who regarded Sunni
Salafi The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generat ...
extremism as a direct threat to their own interests, repeatedly accused America of not striving hard enough to eliminate these groups or even seeking to reach an agreement with them. In 2013, North Korea opened the Ar-Rahman Mosque on the premises of the Iranian embassy, making North Korea the only nation besides
Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
to have a Shia mosque but no Sunni mosque. During the intertwined North Korean and Iranian nuclear crises, the favorable or unfavorable views that Iranian observers and policy-makers formed about North Korea's nuclear policies were considerably influenced by their political affiliation. In general, Iranian reformists were more negatively disposed toward the DPRK than conservative hard-liners, as they were of the opinion that Iran could not afford to pursue a confrontational nuclear strategy akin to North Korea's policy. Conservative hard-liners cited North Korea's open nuclear defiance of America's might as a positive example that Iran should emulate, but if the DPRK happened to enter nuclear talks with the U.S., they monitored the negotiations with thinly veiled distrust.


Ambassadors


List of North Korean ambassadors to Iran

* Kim Jong-nam (2000–2004) * Kim Chang-ryong (2004–2010) * Jo In-chol (2010–2014)North Korea appoints new ambassador to Iran , NK News – North Korea News
/ref> * Kang Sam-hyon (2014–2020) * Han Song-u (2020-)


List of Iranian ambassadors to North Korea

* Aliasghar Nahavandian * Seyed Morteza Mirheidari (-1997) * Mohammad Ganjidoost (1997–2001) * Jalaleddin Namini Mianji (2002-2007) * Morteza Moradian (2008–2012) * Mansour Chavoshi (2012–2016) * Seyed Mohsen Emadi (2017–2020)


Others

* Ri Won Il, chairman of the DPRK-Iran Friendship Association * Anoushiravan Mohseni Bandpei, chairman of the Iran-Korea Parliamentary Friendship Group


Military weapons

Since the 1980s North Korea has become known as a reliable supplier of arms to other countries including Iran. Weapons sales between North Korea and Iran increased significantly during the Iran-Iraq war. This weapons sale relationship has expanded into further military cooperation including in the development of and exchange of nuclear technology. This relationship has also involved Syria. During the Persian Gulf War North Korea is said to have supplied Iran with a range of arms including artillery, anti-aircraft machine guns, mortars, ammunition, tanks, small arms, naval mines and anti-tank and
surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...
systems. In December 2009, in contravention of an arms embargo imposed on North Korea, a shipment of North Korean arms, said to be en route for Iran, according to the Congressional Research Service, was intercepted in Thailand. These weapons included rocket launchers and surface-to-air missile parts. In addition to weapons, North Korea and Iran have an active exchange of military expertise particularly in relation to special operations and underground facilities. North Korea is thought to have trained Iranian operators in these advanced infiltration techniques. In March 2013 North Korea and Iran, as well as Syria, blocked a UN Arms Trade Treaty aimed at setting "standards for all cross-border transfers of conventional weapons". Arms expert
Jeffrey Lewis Jeffrey Lewis (born November 20, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and comic book artist. Early life Lewis was born in New York City and grew up on the Lower East Side. He attended State University of New York at Purchase, graduating in ...
claims that the second stage of North Korea's
Hwasong-14 The Hwasong-14 (), also known under alternative US designation codename KN-20, is a mobile intercontinental ballistic missile developed by North Korea. It had its maiden flight on 4 July 2017, which coincided with the United States' Independen ...
ICBM An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...
is similar to the upper stages designed for the Iranian space launch vehicles.


See also

*
Foreign relations of Iran The foreign relations of Iran are the economic and diplomatic relationships between the Iranian government and governments of other countries. Geography is a very significant factor in informing Iran's foreign policy. Following the 1979 Iranian ...
* Foreign relations of North Korea *
North Korean support for Iran during the Iran–Iraq War North Korea supported Iran during the Iran–Iraq War for oil and foreign exchange by selling both domestically produced arms to Iran and serving as an intermediary for deniable sales by the Soviet Union, Soviet satellites, and China. Sales began ...


References


Further reading

* Choi, Lyong; Shin, Jong-dae; and Lee, Han-hyung. "The Dilemma of the 'Axis of Evil': The Rise and Fall of Iran-DPRK Relations." ''The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis'', Vol. 31, No. 4 (December 2019), pp. 595–611. * Fitzpatrick, Mark. "Iran and North Korea: The Proliferation Nexus." ''Survival'', Vol. 48, No. 1 (2006), pp. 61–80. * Levkowitz, Alon. "Iran and North Korea Military Cooperation: A Partnership within the 'Axis of Evil'." ''Iran-Pulse'' 10 (2007), pp. 1–3: https://web.archive.org/web/20150107132716/http://humanities.tau.ac.il/iranian/en/previous-reviews/10-iran-pulse-en/117-10 . * McEachern, Patrick and Jaclyn O'Brien McEachern. ''North Korea, Iran and the Challenge to International Order'' (Routledge, 2017). https://www.routledge.com/North-Korea-Iran-and-the-Challenge-to-International-Order-A-Comparative/McEachern-McEachern/p/book/9781138295124 {{DEFAULTSORT:Iran-North Korea relations
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
Bilateral relations of North Korea