N. K., U.K. agree to establish diplomatic ties

North Korea and the United Kingdom announced Tuesday that the two countries agreed to establish diplomatic relations immediately.

The two governments said that they would open a resident mission in each other's capitals and that until ambassadors are in place a nonresident charge d'affaires will be appointed to be stationed in the South Korean capital Seoul for Britain and in Geneva or Stockholm for North Korea.

Welcoming the decision, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade here said it would not only improve relations between the two countries but also play a positive role in building peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula through inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation.

Diplomatic normalization between Pyongyang and London came in three years and eight months after the two nations started political dialogue in March 1997, and it marks the first time Britain has had official ties with the isolationist communist state for more than half a century since the Korean conflict.

The breakthrough added Britain to the growing list of countries with which North Korea has diplomatic relations, now numbering 138. Of major European nations only France and Germany are yet to seal official relations with Pyongyang.