Finland–North Korea relations are bilateral relations between Finland and North Korea.
In the 1970s, Finland made a decision to have diplomatic relations with both North and South Korea. This mirrored the contemporary policy of relations with both East and West Germany. Finland extended formal diplomatic recognition to North Korea on 13 April 1973. The countries have had formal diplomatic relations since 1 June 1973. Relations were sometimes close until the 1990s, after which correspondences have significantly diminished.
North Korea had an embassy in Finland from 1978 until it closed it down in 1998 for economic reasons. North Korea maintained a fair amount of its relations with the European Union through the embassy, which made Finland one of its priorities. Kim Pyong-il, a son of the country's president, Kim Il Sung, was chosen as the last resident ambassador. This was either to highlight the importance of relations with Finland or to move him out of Pyongyang in order to prevent a power struggle with his half-brother Kim Jong Il, who succeeded Kim Il Sung. Nowadays, North Korea is represented by a non-resident ambassador in the , Sweden, who is currently Kang Yong-dok. His Finnish counterpart is Eero Suominen, although he is yet to be accredited.
Various diplomatic incidents have taken place over the years. In the 1970s, North Korean diplomats were found to run a smuggling ring in Finland and the other Nordic countries as part of North Korea's illicit activities to obtain foreign currencies. In 1983, the North Korean ambassador tried to bribe the Finnish prime minister Johannes Virolainen. In 2007, Finnish Customs used teargas on two North Korean diplomats who refused to cooperate.
In the 1970s, North Korea purchased two paper machines from Finland for 30 million euros. The debt has never been paid back. Trade between the two countries has been "virtually non-existent" since the 2000s.
There is a to promote Finnish–North Korean relations in Finland called . Likewise, North Korea has its Korea–Finland Association. Pentecostal charity Fida International and the Finnish Red Cross operate in the country.
History
North Korea pursued relations with Finland already in the late 1950s. Finland, however, could not agree to the establishment of formal relations with a divided state of the Cold War. Formation of relations culminated in Finnish diplomatic recognition of North Korea on 13 April 1973, and the establishment of formal diplomatic relations on 1 June 1973. Until the 1990s, the two had sometimes close relations. In recent times, the two countries have not had important relations. The last time that political consultations were held was in 2005. Nowadays, the two countries maintain normal diplomatic relations, but they are not particularly close. Finland has often condemned those actions of North Korea that it perceives as threats to international peace and security.
Establishment of trade relations, recognition, and diplomatic relations
A bilateral trade agreement was signed on 9 October 1969, and a North Korean trade office was established in Helsinki in January 1971. In the 1970s, Finland maintained a prudent foreign policy toward any divided states. Like East and West Germany, North and South Korea fell under this policy. Consequentially, Finland had to let South Korea establish a trade office in the capital as well. It also entailed that Finland would have to establish formal diplomatic relations with both states. The impetus came in November 1972, when Finland recognized both German states. The following month, North Korean diplomats petitioned the Finnish government to pursue recognition of North Korea as well. Finland simultaneously recognized the two Korean states on 13 April 1973. Diplomatic relations with North Korea were established two months later, on 1 June and with South Korea slightly later on 24 August. Finland became the second Western European country, after Sweden, to establish relations with the North. Because of the policy, however, Finland recognized South Korea later than the other Nordic countries. The Korean question continued to be addressed at the United Nations in the 1970s. Kim Il Sung apparently considered Finland to have a role to play and petitioned him twice by personal letters in 1973. In the 1970s, Finland maintained closer ties with North than South Korea. The tide began to turn in the late 1970s because of unpaid debts and diplomatic incidents. By the mid-1980s, Finland was favoring South Korea over the North, although Kim still described the ties as "cordial" in 1985. Finland was establishing an embassy in Seoul, and let North Korea know that there would be no Finnish embassy in Pyongyang until the country cleaned up its diplomatic act and paid its debts.
Illicit activities In 1976, North Korean diplomats were discovered to run extensive smuggling of cigarettes, liquor, and illegal drugs in Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark as part of North Korea's illicit activities to earn currency. In Finland, this included trafficking drugs and alcohol. The drug sales apparently did not go as planned because the North Koreans lacked know-how in drugs. Alcohol wares were imported from the Soviet Union as well as Stockholm and also purchased at diplomatic rates from Alko. Finnish police surveiled the embassy and its staff to expose these activities, and even broke into diplomatic premises to obtain proof. The case culminated in a joint police operation in the Nordic countries and a car chase in Helsinki. Chargé d'affaires Chang Dae-hi and three other diplomats were declared persona non grata. Initially refusing to leave, Finland stipulated resorting to cutting off electricity and water from the diplomatic premises. The situation resolved when the diplomats eventially left and were replaced by four new ones on the same day. The incident proved not only damaging to the reputation of North Korea but also put the Finnish authorities in a difficult position because North Korea still remained a diplomatic priority. No espionage component could however be found in the North Korean operations.
The biggest blow to diplomatic relations took place in 1983, when the North Korean ambassador, Yu Jae-han tried to bribe the Finnish prime minister Johannes Virolainen with $5,000. The incident resulted in the diplomat being announced persona non grata. North Korean diplomats have also reportedly tried to sell pornography in Finland. In the 1990s, a diplomat once again was suspected of illegal alcohol sales, and another one was caught trying to exchange counterfeit dollars.
In 2007, North Korea issued a diplomatic note of dissatisfaction with Finland after an incident concerning two North Korean diplomats. The diplomats headed to Stockholm were aboard the train from Moscow to Helsinki when Finnish Customs officials had to use tear gas after they refused to cooperate. The men had refused to show their train tickets and their diplomatic passports lacked the appropriate annex for passing through Finland, where they had not been accredited. Only after the Finnish police had determined that there was North Korean diplomatic personnel in Finland to meet the men and escort them to Sweden was it determined that they were entitled to diplomatic immunity as passing by diplomats. The North Korean note accused Finland of human rights violations and the diplomats being bitten by canine police.
North Korea has attempted to import dual-use technology suitable for weapons of mass destruction from Finland.
Diplomatic representation
North Korea maintained an embassy in Finland from 1978 until it closed it down in 1998. In addition to the embassy, located at Kulosaaren puistotie 32 in the Kulosaari district of Helsinki, North Korea maintained an official residence for the ambassador, in the Tammisalo district of the capital since spring 1994. The embassy was closed down "for economic reasons". The properties were sold and the embassy subsequently demolished.
The last ambassador before a temporary diplomat was Kim Il Sung's son Kim Pyong-il, who had been accredited on 18 March 1994. Kim's predecessor, Choe Sang-bom, had served for about six months, until he reportedly fell ill and left the country in December 1993. However, it could also have been that Choe was recalled for political reasons. Before the shutdown, North Korea used to run much of its relations with the European Union through its embassy in Finland, and the Finnish Foreign Ministry assessed that North Korea had "invested a lot" in its relations with Finland. Kim Pyong-il, in particular, was thought to have been chosen as ambassador in order to raise the profile of Finnish relations. On the other hand, Kim was speculated to have been placed in Finland to be out of the way of a potential power struggle following the anticipated succession of his half-brother Kim Jong Il to the country's leadership. Kim Pyong-il was called back to Pyongyang on 22 April 1994. The departure was sudden and North Korea failed to inform the Finnish Foreign Ministry. This sparked speculation that Kim Il Sung was tormented by doubts about Kim Jong Il's ability to succeed him and maintain the Kim family regime, and that he still viewed Kim Pyong-il as a potential successor. Kim Il-sung died on 9 July 1994, and Kim Pyong-il returned to Helsinki as soon as the funeral was over and told the Finnish press that Kim Jong Il was designated as the successor decades before.
In the 1990s, Finland was a strategic partner due to its traditional role in-between Western and Eastern countries following North Korea's soured relations with major powers due to its nuclear weapons program. At the time, it was reported that North Korea had also made a set of "unrealistic" commercial proposals to Finland. Since the embassy was shut down, North Korea has maintained relations with Finland through the , Sweden. North Korea's ambassador to Sweden then acts as the non-resident ambassador to Finland and other Nordic countries.
Pak Kwang-cho was accredited as the ambassador to Finland on 22 January 2013. Pak, however, was called back to Pyongyang in December 2013 following the execution of his ally Jang Song-thaek. It is likely that Pak was imprisoned or executed. The current non-resident ambassador to Finland is Kang Yong-dok. In the North Korean Foreign Ministry, the person responsible for relations with Finland is the head of the Department of Northern Europe, with four staff members. , the person is Pak Yun-sik. Finland is dealt with by the ministry's European Affairs Department 2.
Eero Suominen was appointed the ambassador to both Koreas in September 2016, but , he is yet to leave his letter of accreditation to the North Korean government. The ambassador is a non-resident one in the Embassy of Finland in Seoul, South Korea. Finnish nationals in North Korea may seek urgent assistance from the . In the Finnish Foreign Ministry, relations with North Korea are handled by the Unit for Eastern Asia and Oceania, which is under the Department for the Americas and Asia.
Former representatives Finnish Ambassador Veli Helenius 1973–1974 Ambassador Martti Salomies 1974–1976 Ambassador Pentti Suomela 1976–1984 Ambassador Risto Hyvärinen 1984–1999 Ambassador Arto Mansala 1989–1992 Ambassador Ilkka Ristimäki 1992– Source:
North Korean Chargé d'affaires by announcement Chog Sung-kyn 1973 Chargé d'affaires by announcement Chang Dae-hi 1973 Ambassador Han Jong-cho 1978–1979 Ambassador Yu Jae-han 1979–1983 Ambassador Li Nam-kyu 1984–1989 Ambassador Ryo Sung-chol 1990–1993 Ambassador Choe Sang-bom 1993–1994 Ambassador Kim Pyong-il 1994–1997 Sources:
Inter-parliamentary relations
The first parliamentary visit to North Korea took place in 1972. The delegation that was led by Veikko J. Rytkönen (SKDL) and also included Lasse Lehtinen (SDP) and Pertti Salolainen (NCP) met with President Kim Il Sung.