More than a dozen missions may close, likely because of international sanctions, a trend of Pyongyang's disengaging globally and the probable weakening of the North Korean economy, a report said.
Defect to the NK friendly country their embassy is in? I'm not sure how that would play out. They would probably just get deported back to NK where they will be punished. I'd bet a nickel that the diplomats are heavily watched as well.
They might be, but the list of embassies that are being closed seems a bit strange for that:
Spain, Hong Kong, and multiple countries in Africa
I'd've thought they'd keep the African embassies open: it's not like North Korea and Africa are going to war, they both have enough dislike of the West that Africa might sell supplies or diplomacy in a war, and it's always useful to have back channels and diplomatic relations in a war. So why "multiple countries in Africa"?
Tbh yeah - all you need is to do a bit of reading on the events leading up to WW2 - if this was in a book/movie I'd be saying "come on guys, that's a little on the nose, isn't it" lol
Both Angola and Uganda have forged friendly ties with North Korea since the 1970s, maintaining military cooperation and providing rare sources of foreign currency such as statue-building projects.
More than a dozen missions may close, likely because of international sanctions, a trend of Pyongyang's disengaging globally and the probable weakening of the North Korean economy, he said in a report on Wednesday.
Seoul's unification ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said the pullout reflected the impact of international sanctions aimed at curbing funding for the North's nuclear and missile programs.
"They appear to be withdrawing as their foreign currency earning business has stumbled due to the international community's strengthening of sanctions, making it difficult to maintain the embassies any longer," the ministry said in a statement.
North Korea has formal relations with 159 countries, but had 53 diplomatic missions overseas, including three consulates and three representative offices, until it pulled out of Angola and Uganda, according to the ministry.
Pyongyang denounced the incident as a "grave breach of sovereignty and terrorist attack," and accused the United States of not investigating the group thoroughly and refusing to extradite its leader.
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