The Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang is

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes ...

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 borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

, which is located in the country's capital

Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

. The Swedish Embassy was one of the first embassies in North Korea, opening in 1975. The ambassador since July 2021 is Andreas Bengtsson. Until 2001, Sweden was the only Western country with uninterrupted diplomatic representation in the city. The Swedish embassy serves as the

protecting power A protecting power is a country that represents another sovereign state—the protected power—in a third country where the protected power lacks its own formal diplomatic representation (e.g., lacks an embassy or consulate). It is common fo ...

for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and as consular representation for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

and

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

History

The Swedish government recognized North Korea in the council on 6 April 1973. According to the government's assessment, recognizing both Korean states would significantly contribute to easing tensions in the region. Foreign Minister Krister Wickman commented on the decision by stating that there was

Nordic Nordic most commonly refers to: * Nordic countries, the northern European countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and their North Atlantic territories * Scandinavia, a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern ...

consensus on the issue, which had been agreed upon at the Nordic foreign ministers' meeting the previous month. On 8 April 1973, North Korea declared that it had received and accepted Sweden's proposal to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries. The official North Korean news agency announced that Foreign Minister

Ho Dam Ho Dam (; MR: Hŏ Dam; March 6, 1929 – May 11, 1991) was a prominent North Korean politician and diplomat who served as the country's Foreign Minister from 1970 to 1983. Over his career, Ho Dam held several key positions within the North Kore ...

, in his response to the message from Foreign Minister Wickman, stated, "On behalf of the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, I have the honor to inform you that it agrees to your government's proposal to establish diplomatic relations between the DPRK and Sweden." Sweden's ambassador to China, Arne Björnberg, was accredited in

in May 1973. The embassy was opened in 1975 and the first ambassador with the title ''

chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

'' was

Erik Cornell Carl Johan Erik Cornell (2 October 1930 – 6 November 2024), was a Swedish diplomat. Cornell began his career as an attaché at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1958. He held various international postings, including Bonn, Geneva, Warsaw, Ad ...

(1975–1977). After North Korea, on 6 November 1975, requested that

close its embassy in Pyongyang, claiming it had engaged in "systematic subversive activities" against North Korea, Australia's ambassador to Sweden approached the Swedish

Ministry for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral rela ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, asking if Sweden would serve as Australia's

in Pyongyang, to which Sweden agreed. Since 1995, Sweden has acted as the protecting power for the United States in North Korea. Until 2001, Sweden was the only western country with an unbroken diplomatic presence in North Korea. The Swedish embassy in Pyongyang is today co-located with the French, British embassy and the German embassy. The

chancery Chancery may refer to: Offices and administration * Court of Chancery, the chief court of equity in England and Wales until 1873 ** Equity (law), also called chancery, the body of jurisprudence originating in the Court of Chancery ** Courts of e ...

is the former embassy building for East Germany, originally shared with only Germany and the Italian aid agency, with the British later joining in 2001. On September 16, 2010, Barbro Elm handed over her

letter of credence A letter of credence (, ) is a formal Diplomatic correspondence, diplomatic letter that designates a diplomat as ambassador to another sovereign state. Commonly known as diplomatic credentials, the letter is addressed from one head of state to an ...

to North Korean President

Kim Yong-nam Kim Yong-nam (; born 4 February 1928) is a North Korean retired politician who served as the President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea, from 1998 until 2019. Due to holding the office, he was considered the hea ...

. On 9 December 2010, the Government Offices announced that the embassy was in danger of being closed down due to the cuts to be made to the Government Offices' costs. On 26 April 2012, Karl-Olof Andersson, current Rector of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' diplomatic program and secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Admissions Committee, was appointed new ambassador in the autumn of 2012. On 2 October 2012, Andersson handed over his credentials to Kim Yong-nam in a ceremony that took place in the Mansudae Congress Hall. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the diplomats were temporarily withdrawn in 2020. The embassy remained open and was staffed by local employees. In September 2024, Swedish diplomats have returned to the embassy. This made Sweden the first Western country to resume regular diplomatic operations in North Korea since the pandemic.

Building

File:Embassy of Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom, France in Pyongyang, DPRK - 2011.jpg, Chancery pictured in 2011 File:Embassy of Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom, France in Pyongyang, DPRK - 2018.jpg, Chancery pictured in 2018

Chiefs of mission

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Sweden, North Korea, United States, Politics 1975 establishments in North Korea

North Korea–Sweden relations Australia–North Korea relations Canada–North Korea relations Iceland–North Korea relations Italy–North Korea relations Finland–North Korea relations North Korea–United States relations Australia–Sweden relations Canada–Sweden relations Iceland–Sweden relations Italy–Sweden relations Finland–Sweden relations Sweden–United States relations

History

Building

Chiefs of mission

See also

References

External links