Italy and North Korea have no formal diplomatic ties, although they maintain quiet trade, tourism and security contacts.
History
For a long time, North Korea was considered isolationist and "politically reclusive".
That changed in January 2000, when Italy announced its opening of official diplomatic relations with North Korea by
Lamberto Dini
Lamberto Dini CGMG (born 1 March 1931) is an Italian politician and economist. He was the Director General of Bank of Italy from 1979 to 1994, Minister of Treasury from 1994 to 1996, the 51st Prime Minister of Italy from 1995 to 1996, and Forei ...
, Italy's foreign minister, who also brokered reconciliation pacts at that time with
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
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
of
Muammar Gaddafi.
North Korea's representative for the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization met with Lamberto Dini to formally establish diplomatic ties. Formal ties with a member of the
G7 was considered a huge step for North Korea at the time.
In 2017 Italy expelled N.K.'s
ambassador, in response to N.K.'s continued pursuit of its nuclear weapons program.
References
Bilateral relations of North Korea
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 Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
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