Bulgaria to reopen embassy in Pyongyang after years-long closure
Sofia: Bulgaria is preparing to reopen its embassy in Pyongyang this week after several years of closure, the country’s foreign ministry told NK News on Monday, signaling a modest revival of bilateral ties amid North Korea’s ongoing diplomatic isolation.
“Bulgaria’s diplomatic mission in Pyongyang was temporarily closed in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Its reopening in line with the EU’s ‘critical engagement’ policy toward the DPRK is expected to be in April,” the ministry said.
A source familiar with the Bulgarian foreign ministry’s plans, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, told NK News that Bulgaria will be sending a chargé d’affaires-level diplomat this week to the North Korean capital.
The move marks the first resumption of Bulgaria’s diplomatic presence inside the DPRK since its diplomats evacuated Pyongyang at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, in July 2021.
Upon arrival, the embassy will be manned on a single-diplomat basis, the source said.
It follows DPRK ambassador Ri Hak Mu presenting his credentials to Bulgaria’s president in March, the Pyongyang Times reported. This came after his appointment by the DPRK foreign ministry in mid-February. The DPRK’s last ambassador, Cha Kon Il, left Bulgaria in April 2024, Rodong Sinmun reporting previously showed.
Bulgaria and North Korea first established diplomatic relations in 1948 and during the Korean War, Bulgaria provided humanitarian aid to the DPRK, including clothing and foodstuffs. In 1955, both countries elevated their legations to embassies.
The relationship encountered friction in 2017, when Bulgaria implemented a U.N. resolution on the North and reduced the number of diplomatic staff at the DPRK embassy in Sofia.
A 2010 U.S.-Open Source Center (OSC) investigation showed that the DPRK’s embassy in Bulgaria was one of its largest in Europe, with 12 diplomats and their spouses working from Sofia. The DPRK embassy in Bulgaria is responsible for relations with multiple other eastern European nations, the OSC report shows.
The reopening of the Bulgarian embassy in Pyongyang comes at a time when foreign engagement with North Korea remains limited. The country’s borders have remained largely closed to traditional diplomatic, U.N. and NGO-level partners following the COVID-19 pandemic, and strict international sanctions remain in place over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
