South Korea establishes diplomatic relations with Cuba, ``North Korea's brother country''...to strengthen diplomacy with Latin America = South Korean report

South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 14th that it had agreed to establish ambassador-level diplomatic relations with Cuba through an exchange of diplomatic notes between the two missions to the United Nations in New York. Q
Korea is the 193rd country with which South Korea has established diplomatic relations, leaving it with only one country (Syria) among UN member states with which it does not have diplomatic relations.
Cuba recognized the Republic of Korea in 1949, but Cuba's socialism in 1959
Since the revolution, exchanges between the two countries have ceased. North Korea and Cuba established diplomatic relations on August 29, 1960, and have maintained close exchanges as friendly socialist countries.
Establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba, the only country in the Caribbean region of Latin America with which it did not have diplomatic relations, is an important step for South Korea to strengthen its diplomacy with Latin America.
This is a turning point and is expected to help South Korea further strengthen its diplomacy as a central nation in the world. The establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Cuba will lead to the expansion of economic cooperation between the two countries and the
It is expected that by building an institutional foundation for expansion into Cuba, it will contribute to expanding cooperation between the two countries, and it is also expected that it will be able to provide consular assistance to Korean nationals visiting Cuba.
ing. Before the spread of the COVID-19 virus, about 14,000 South Korean nationals visited Cuba annually. Koreans who immigrated to Cuba from Mexico during the Japanese colonial period.
Approximately 1,100 descendants of Japanese people live here. As of 2022, the scale of trade between South Korea and Cuba will be 14 million dollars (approximately 2.1 billion yen) in exports and 7 million dollars (approximately 1.05 billion yen) in imports.
Until now, Korea and Cuba have expanded exchanges and cooperation mainly in non-political fields such as cultural and people-to-people exchanges and development cooperation, but in particular, the recognition of friendship between the two countries' private sectors has expanded through active cultural exchanges.
This is considered to have contributed to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, ``The South Korean government will actively discuss follow-up measures to establish diplomatic relations with the Cuban government, such as opening mutual diplomatic missions.
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