South Korea will open a temporary office in the Cuban capital until the the diplomatic headquarters is completed
14ymedio, Havana, April 29, 2024 — After re-establishing diplomatic relations last February, Cuba and South Korea have agreed to open their respective diplomatic headquarters in Seoul and Havana. The pact was signed in the capital of the Island, where several officials of the South Korean Foreign Ministry arrived from April 24 to 27, to exchange diplomatic letters. On the page of its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, South Korea also announced the signing of the agreement: “Our Government plans to continue consultations with the Cuban side so that our Embassy in Cuba can be opened as soon as possible. To this end, we will establish a temporary office in Havana as an intermediate step in the opening,” says the portfolio statement, which also announces the sending of diplomatic personnel.
For its part, the Cuban Foreign Ministry published a brief message on its social networks announcing the reception of the Korean delegation, headed by the director general of Coordination and Foreign Planning of that country, Song Si-jin.
The caution of the Cuban authorities around the restoration of relations with South Korea, a potential economic ally, responds to attempts to keep ties stable with North Korea, an important political partner for the Island and an enemy of Seoul, which it has recently threatened to “annihilate.”
The Cuban Government sees in South Korea an unexplored potential for investments and resources that North Korea hardly offers
The Cuban Government sees in South Korea an unexplored potential for investments and resources that North Korea hardly offers and that, in the current economic crisis, could be a breath of fresh air for the regime.
Suspicion of Havana, however, has not been overlooked by Cubans who, after the announcement of the restoration of diplomatic relations – broken since 1959 by the arrival of Fidel Castro to power – asked the Foreign Ministry for explanations in the comments of the media and social media accounts of the ruling party.
On one hand, users said, relat