With the embassy’s reopening, Nigeria has become the second African nation, following Egypt, to maintain a diplomatic presence in North Korea.
According to NK News, although the embassy closed, Nigeria and North Korea maintained diplomatic relations through the Nigerian project in Abuja.
Nigeria’s charge d’affaires, Patrick Imodu Imologhome disclosed a plan for the embassy’s reopening at a meeting in Pyongyang last Wednesday with Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexandr Matsegora, the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang wrote on its Facebook account last Thursday.
Imologhome, which arrived in North Korea, announced plans to reopen Nigeria’s embassy in Pyongyang after a long suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the statement.
The Russian Embassy in Pyongyang said in a Telegram message in early December that representatives of the diplomatic corps of Nigeria and India attended an occasion to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
North Korea and Nigeria established diplomatic ties in 1976 and both have maintained diplomatic relations despite the closure of Nigeria’s embassy.
North Korea’s ambassador to Nigeria, Jon Tong Chol, reportedly stayed in Abuja during the pandemic.
Since his appointment in 2018, Ambassador Jon has been involved in diplomatic exchanges with Nigeria, though the details of their discussions have generally not been disclosed to the public.
North Korea closed its border in early 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing foreign diplomats or ticket office staff from foreign organizations to withdraw from the isolated country. In August 2023, the North began to reopen its border.
Only Nigeria and Egypt have diplomatic presence in North Korea out of all other African countries.
Eight countries, including China, Laos, Mongolia, Vietnam, Cuba, Russia, Syria and Egypt, have controlled their diplomatic missions in Pyongyang to a limited extent, even amid the pandemic, leaving some of their embassy staff, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry.
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