North Korea closes its embassy in Uganda, ending half a century of diplomatic presence in one of its oldest allies in Africa. The decision was announced after a meeting between Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and North Korean Ambassador Jong Tong Hak.
“Ambassador Jong informed the president that North Korea had decided to reduce the number of its embassies in Africa, including Uganda, in order to increase the efficiency” of its representations abroad, said a presidential statement sent on Tuesday October 24.
“Our friendly relations will continue and will be further strengthened and developed,” assured the North Korean ambassador, quoted in the statement, adding that diplomatic relations between the two countries will now be handled by the embassy in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. The diplomat thanked President Museveni for having “always supported the (North) Korean government in implementing its peaceful efforts to achieve harmonious unification of the Korean peninsula”, according to the presidency.
North Korea established ties with Uganda shortly after the former British colony gained independence in 1962, and supported the dictator Idi Amin Dada when he took power in 1971, with weapons and military training. North Korea opened its embassy a year later, while the international community sidelined the Ugandan leader.
Idi Amin Dada was overthrown in a coup d’état in 1979. He died in exile in Saudi Arabia in 2003. His reign of terror led to the deaths of some 300,000 people.
After Museveni took power in 1986, Kampala and Pyongyang signed cooperation agreements, with North Korea supplying arms, military equipment and training to Ugandan security forces. But in May 2016, Uganda indicated that it would cease this military cooperation after the UN imposed heavy sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear program.