Nigeria Set To Reopen Embassy In North Korea Closed Since COVID-19 Pandemic

The two countries have continued diplomatic relations in the interim years through the still-open DPRK Embassy in Abuja, though accusations have emerged of attempted weapons trading between the two countries in violation of sanctions.

The President Bola Tinubu-led government is set to reopen its embassy in in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea following years of closure over the COVID-19 pandemic.

The two countries have continued diplomatic relations in the interim years through the still-open DPRK Embassy in Abuja, though accusations have emerged of attempted weapons trading between the two countries in violation of sanctions.

The plan for the embassy reopening was made known by Patrick Imodu Imologhome, Nigeria’s charge d’affaires, at a meeting in Pyongyang last Wednesday with Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexandr Matsegora, the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang wrote on its Facebook account last Thursday.

Imologhome, who had “recently arrived” in North Korea, shared his plans to reopen the Nigerian Embassy in Pyongyang after a long suspension caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it said.

It did not specify other details related to the embassy reopening, but the African country is presumed to have restored it to resume diplomatic activities in the North.

Russia’s embassy in Pyongyang said in a Telegram message in early December that representatives from diplomatic corps from countries, including Nigeria and India, attended an event to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

North Korea and Nigeria established diplomatic ties in 1976. Reports from a U.N. panel of experts have shown that Pyongyang is suspected of having maintained an arms trade or business deals with Nigeria in violation of U.N. sanctions against North Korea.

North Korea shut down its border in early 2020 over the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing foreign diplomats or field workers at international organizations to withdraw from the isolated country. In August 2023, the North began reopening its border.

Of all African countries, only Nigeria and Egypt have diplomatic presences in North Korea.