Telegram from the Royal Danish Embassy in Kuala Lampur, 'North Korea’s Diplomatic Practice'

DEPARTMENT FOR PROTOCOL

ROYAL DANISH EMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR 

“DENMARK HOUSE”

86 JALAN AMPANG

KUALA LUMPUR

TELEG: AMBADANE

TELEF: 25357/8

Foreign Ministry

1 copy. Journal no. 4.F.KuLu.l. Date 29. October 1976.

North Korea’s Diplomatic Practice

The activities of North Korean diplomats in Denmark and the other Nordic countries has been subject to extensive press coverage in Malaysia, both in print and visual media, and it has been presented as a case of great importance. The coverage largely follows what has already been published in Danish and international press.

However, it may be worth mentioning a brief notice in a Malaysian newspaper published about a week ago, which claimed Malaysia has seen similar irregularities, and that a Secretary of the North Korean Embassy here was expelled a few months ago. A few days later, I noted that a Danish newspaper mentioned Malaysia as another country where North Korean diplomats had caused trouble.

I happened to meet the Director for the [North Korean] Embassy and asked him what was behind these claims. He immediately denied the claims, and informed me that they had sent a retraction to the newspaper that was subsequently published.  

The [North Korean] Foreign Ministry here has undeniably been very interested in the case, as we received a phone call from an officer of the North Korean protocol section, asking for further details of the case, in particular details regarding the quantities of spirits, cigarettes and narcotics. The Embassy replied that there was no public announcement at the current time, and referred the caller to Danish newspapers, who has published the exact quantities of contraband. After this, the Embassy has not heard back from them.

In this regard it should be mentioned that the Foreign Ministry [of Malaysia] here inspects all duty-subjected imports to all Embassies, both foreign and domestic, as all deliveries are subject to customs declaration, and all necessary declaration forms must be handed to and approved by the Foreign Ministry, which by the way makes deliveries a very slow procedure.

None of this changed however, changes the fact that the North Korean Embassy here too – as they are known to do in other countries – spends a considerable amount of money on propaganda, such as full-page ads with Kim Il Sung as the subject, distribution of propaganda magazines and newspapers, and handsomely bound books on similar topics. Around the time when the smuggling story began to unfold, all Embassies here received parcels with 8 nicely bound volumes of this nature.

The North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur was established as a chargé d’affaired-post in December 1973, and the former chargé d’affaires was granted Ambassador status in June 1975. The [North Korean] Embassy does operate with a staff of 3-4 people, although any practical relationship between Malaysia and North Korea is virtually non-existent, both in commercial, cultural and other terms.

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