Announcement that all North Korean Embassy personnel in Oslo have been asked to leave the country following reports of smuggling through the embassy.
October 18, 1976
Telegram to the Embassy in Pyongyang, 'Deportation North Korean Diplomats'
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COPY NO
1 MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
2 SECRETARY GENERAL
3 UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE
4 DIRECTOR GENERAL
5 PRESS DEPARTMENT
OSLO
18 OCTOBER 1976
CASE: DEPORTATION NORTH KOREAN DIPLOMATS
ADDRESSEE: EMBASSY IN PYONGYANG, BEIJING
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent out the following press release on 19. October:
“All personnel from the North Korean Embassy in Oslo have been declared unwanted in Norway. They have been ordered to leave the country within six days.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has taken this measure after receiving a police report proving the civil servants of the North Korean Embassy have been involved in extensive illegal import and distribution of spirits and cigarettes.
This afternoon, Secretary General Sverre Gjellum summoned North Korea’s Embassy Counsellor and chargé d’affaires in Oslo, Pak Gi-pil [sic], to inform him of the police report, and declared the Embassy’s personnel persona non grata in Norway and asked them to leave the country.”
Furthermore, the Police Chief in Oslo has issued the following press release:
“The Police Security Service launched an investigation of the North Korean Embassy after receiving informations from contacts in the Nordic countries. The investigation has revealed that the North Korean Embassy in Oslo has been running an extensive operation involving the sales and distribution of spirits and cigarettes, which has been sold to Norwegian citizens.
This information led the Oslo Police Department to take action on 15. October. Thus far, eight Norwegian citizens have been charged with violation of the Alcohol and Customs Law. Five of them are now in prison.
The preliminary investigation shows that the North Korean diplomats have distributed approximately 4,000 bottles of spirits and approximately 140,000 cigarettes.
We also have reason to believe that one diplomat has been selling hashish.
One suspect claims he has paid close to 150,000 NOK to diplomats from the North Korean Embassy.
The investigation continues, and at the present time the police cannot provide further information."
NOREG
Two press releases on the discovery of smuggling activities by personnel at the North Korean Embassy in Oslo.
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October 18, 1976 | Press Release of the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
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Dossier 14.1/45, 1970-1979, Archives Section, Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway. Obtained by Charles Kraus and translated by August Myrseth.
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