Ethiopia, North Korea to Step up Bilateral Ties: KCNA

Cooperation between Ethiopia and North Korea to take place in economics, politics and ‘all other fields’, state media says.

By Hamish Macdonald (NK News) |

A delegation of North Korea’s Foreign Ministry visited Ethiopia in order to promote and advance bilateral relations and diplomatic activities, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Friday.

The article in North Korea’s primary state media outlet, however, did not provide the visit date, nor did the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs website have any detail on the delegation.

A director within the Foreign Ministry, Ho Yong Bok, lead the delegation according to the article. Ho has been actively visiting African states since 2016 and also headed delegations to Guinea, Mozambique, and Uganda last year.

“Hirut Zemene, state minister for Political Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, and other heavyweights of Ethiopia appreciated that the DPRK is protecting its sovereignty and achieving miraculous successes in the drive for economic development,” the article said.

This, KCNA wrote, is “despite the toughest sanctions and pressure of the hostile forces and making pro-active efforts for peace and security in the Korean peninsula and the region”.

“Both sides agreed to re-energize visits and contacts of delegations, exchanges, and cooperation in politics, economy and all other fields for boosting the favorably developing bilateral relations,” the article concluded.

North Korea and Ethiopia have long-standing relations that stem back to the mid-1970’s. Those relations have also involved military cooperation, with North Korea providing weapons and training services to the African state throughout the 1980’s.

This relationship continued in decades that followed and Ethiopia has recently come under scrutiny by the UN Panel of Experts (PoE) tasked with monitoring DPRK sanctions.

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