MÉRIDA, Mexico – Approximately one month after his appointment, Han Su Chol, the new ambassador to Cuba from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, arrived in Havana.
The representative of Kim Jong-un’s regime was welcomed by Cuban regime leader Miguel Díaz-Canel, as reported by the Cuban News Agency (ACN).
“Now it’s up to Kim Jong-un and us to continue strengthening these relations,” said Díaz-Canel, who recalled the historic alliance between the two autocracies.
Díaz-Canel emphasized that the relationship between both countries is founded on the bond established by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro and Great Leader Kim Il-sung.
Since March, the North Korean embassy in Havana had been without an ambassador after Ma Chol-su was called back.
In August, Han Su Chol was appointed as North Korean ambassador to Havana, several months after the former ambassador, Ma Chol-su, returned home.
Han Su-chol was previously the deputy director of the international department of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), and his name began to appear in North Korean state media starting in 2022.
In recent months, Pyongyang has expressed its dissatisfaction with the establishment of diplomatic ties between Seoul and Havana, avoiding any mention of the island in reports from Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s main newspaper.
On July 16, it also came to light that the high-ranking North Korean diplomat stationed in Cuba, Ri Il-kyu, defected to South Korea with his wife and son in November 2023.
This event marked the highest-ranking defection of a North Korean diplomat to the South since 2016.
Ri Il-kyu, 52, had been an advisor at North Korea’s embassy in Havana since 2019, and his role was to “block the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Cuba,” the diplomat revealed to the South Korean newspaper Chosun. The Yonhap news agency also confirmed the defection, citing an anonymous government source.
The South Korean Ministry of Unification, responsible for inter-Korean affairs, declined to comment on the case, citing privacy concerns.
Details about North Korean defections usually take months to become public, as defectors must obtain approval from the authorities and complete an education course about South Korean society and systems.
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