Wednesday, January 03, 2024


NK News: Nicaraguan Ambassador to N. Korea to Take up Post Soon

Written: 2024-01-03

Nicaragua appears set to open an embassy in North Korea in the near future.

According to the U.S.-based NK News, Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo said in an interview with a local media on Tuesday that the country’s new ambassador to North Korea Manuel Modesto Munguia will soon take up his post in Pyongyang.

Murillo, the wife of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and a government spokesperson, reportedly said that the new ambassador will soon be dispatched to perform his duties on behalf of the people of Nicaragua
Murillo said that Nicaragua plans to present the envoy’s letter of credentials to North Korean foreign minister Choe Son-hui.

When a new ambassador is appointed to North Korea, a copy of the letter of credentials is delivered to the North Korean foreign ministry, and the original is presented to the chair of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly.

The move comes after the two countries agreed to reciprocally open embassies in July of last year.

Nicaraguan ambassador to N. Korea to take up post amid signs of Pyongyang resuming diplomacy with selected countries


Kim Seung-yeon

All News 
January 03, 2024

SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Yonhap) -- Nicaragua's new ambassador to North Korea is set to take up his position in Pyongyang soon, according to a news report and diplomatic sources Wednesday, amid signs of the North apparently resuming diplomacy with countries considered to be at odds with the United States.

The online NK News reported recently that Ambassador Manuel Modesto Mungula Martinez is set to present his credentials to North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui, citing Rosario Murillo, Nicaragua's vice president and first lady.

Having the new ambassador from the Latin American country is a follow-up step after the two countries agreed in July last year to open an embassy in Pyongyang, the news outlet said.

Diplomatic sources said the opening of the Nicaraguan Embassy in North Korea and appointment of the top envoy represent the first case of the reclusive regime allowing a new diplomatic mission of a foreign country in Pyongyang since the COVID-19 pandemic.



Officials of the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang visits the International Friendship Exhibition, a large complex in Pyongyang that houses the gifts given to former North Korean leaders by foreign dignitaries, in this photo carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 26, 2023.
 (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

North Korea maintained a strict border shutdown during the pandemic. Most of the diplomatic missions also closed, with the foreign diplomats stationed there leaving Pyongyang due to the closure.

The isolated state slowly reopened its borders last year, with new ambassadors coming in to rotate the positions from China and Russia in March and September.

But it has not allowed those back in from the Western countries, like Britain, Sweden and Switzerland.

Diplomatic sources said the North appears to be reshaping its diplomacy to enhance engagement with countries that it can align with more in terms of their foreign policy approach toward Washington.

Nicaragua, along with Cuba and Venezuela, is known for its hostile U.S. policy.

"There is a possibility that the North is letting in the so-called anti-imperialist independent countries first, starting with China and Russia," a source said.

North Korea has shut down its diplomatic missions in Angola, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Hong Kong, Spain and a few others over the recent months, citing "diplomatic efficiency."

As of early December last year, North Korea had 46 diplomatic missions overseas, down from 53 in early 2023.

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