Report, Embassy of Hungary in Yugoslavia to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry

The head of the competent major regional department of the Foreign Secretariat recently visited the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. This was virtually the first official contact between the representatives of the two countries since the period of the Korean War. The departmental head was treated as a guest of the DPRK Foreign Ministry, he had talks with the leaders of the ministry about the relations of the two countries, and he was also given an opportunity to become more familiar with the situation [of North Korea].

[…]

According to the experiences of the departmental head, [apart from defense against the U.S.] the other main characteristic of Korea’s foreign policy is [the DPRK’s effort] to offset the growth of Japan’s economic and international influence. The high-ranking Korean officials are seriously worried by the contingency that Japan, having grown stronger, will again strive to gain a foothold on the Asian mainland, by which it will become a direct threat to the national independence of the local peoples and states. [The desire] to prevent, or lessen, this danger is a major motivation behind that Korean foreign policy has opened its doors toward new relations [with Yugoslavia and other countries].     

[…] They reached a de facto agreement of views on that the date of [the establishment of] diplomatic relations between the two countries should be reckoned from 1948, that is, a date preceding the Korean War. The Yugoslav side is of the opinion that reaching an identity of views on this issue was a substantial political achievement and an important precondition of the further development of relations between the two countries, and it means that the period of the decades-long tension, which has existed in the relationship of the two countries as a consequence of the standpoint Yugoslavia had adopted on the issue of the Korean War, is considered closed by both sides.

[…] During the discussions, the two sides agreed in that economic relations should be given a preference, [because] in this field their cooperation might yield practical results.

[…] For the time being there is no official economic and commercial agreement between the two countries; there is some minuscule cooperation on the level of individual enterprises.

[…]

They also reached a de facto agreement on the gradual normalization of diplomatic relations, including the exchange of ambassadors at a later time.     

Elek Tóth      

Ambassador