North Korea has announced it is closing some of its foreign diplomatic missions, potentially signaling a shift in the country’s foreign policy.

Emerging update: After more than three years of lockdown, North Korea has now chosen to close some of its foreign missions in Uganda, Angola, Spain, and Hong Kong.
* The country has also indicated that more missions may be closed, with reports suggesting up to a dozen embassies might shut down.

Underlying reasons: Experts link these closures to economic difficulties from prolonged international sanctions and the pandemic-era lockdown.
* The withdrawals might also indicate a shift in North Korea’s foreign policy focus towards Beijing and Moscow.
* Shrinking foreign currency reserves have affected North Korean overseas missions which have to self-finance and send remittances back to the home country.

Impact of sanctions: The closures show the effectiveness of United Nations sanctions against North Korea.
* Countries like Uganda and Angola have stopped circumventing the sanctions and providing North Korea with financial support.
* Following the strict U.N. Security Council sanctions after North Korea’s missile and nuclear tests in 2017, both Angola and Uganda ended labor contracts with North Koreans.

Potential foreign policy shift: This downsizing of diplomatic posts could also indicate a shift in North Korea’s international strategy.
* The country may be deepening its focus on maintaining and strengthening relations with superpowers like China and Russia.
* North Korea’s trade reliance on China reached its highest level ever, at 96.7% of total trade, last year.
* Large quantities of ammunition and other military equipment are believed to be provided by North Korea to Russia for the Ukrainian conflict, potentially in exchange for economic and military support.
View original article on NPR
This summary was created by an AI system. The use of this summary is subject to our Terms of Service.