Pak mulls reopening embassy in N Korea amid nuclear fears

Amid sensational claims made by US President Donald Trump about Pakistan “testing nuclear weapons”, Islamabad is considering to reopen its embassy in Pyongyang, North Korea — a development that could raise fresh concerns over nuclear proliferation networks in Asia, The Tribune has learnt.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed that Islamabad had received a formal request from Pyongyang to reopen its diplomatic mission, which had remained shut since the Covid time and that the proposal was currently “under consideration”.

The development comes at a time when global attention has once again turned to nuclear proliferation networks in Asia, following Trump’s remarks naming Pakistan among the countries allegedly “testing” nuclear weapons alongside Russia, China and North Korea.

Dar, in a written reply to a parliamentary query last month, maintained that due to “multiple sanctions” on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), meaningful cooperation between the two countries was “not possible”, adding that bilateral exchanges were confined to the exchange of felicitation messages on important occasions.

“Trade between Pakistan and DPRK is virtually non-existent,” Dar said, adding that Islamabad continued to support Korean unification through peaceful means “without external interference”.

India has repeatedly called out suspected Pakistan-North Korea nuclear and missile linkages, urging global action against proliferation in the region.

In 2017, New Delhi called for a formal probe into Pyongyang’s proliferation networks, and in 2022, India told the UN Security Council that “there is a pressing need to address the proliferation of nuclear and missile technologies related to the DPRK in our region", warning that such activities “adversely impact peace and security, including in India.”

If Pakistan’s Embassy is opened in Pyongyang, the move would mark Islamabad’s quiet return to one of the world’s most diplomatically isolated capitals — at a moment when global suspicion over its nuclear activities has been reignited by Trump’s remarks.

It is pertinent to mention here that India too has its presence in DPRK and had reopened its Embassy in Pyongyang after a four-year hiatus. In June, New Delhi also appointed Aliawati Longkumer as its next Ambassador to North Korea.