Credit : BRICS NEWS
Switzerland has officially reopened its diplomatic office in Pyongyang, re-establishing a permanent diplomatic presence in North Korea for the first time since the pandemic, with Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis travelling to the North Korean capital to mark the occasion.
The news was highlighted by the news aggregator BRICS News, which reported on X late on October 29, 2026, Malaysia time, that Switzerland had officially reopened its diplomatic office in North Korea. According to the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), the office has been operational since October 19, with its official opening marked during Cassis’s visit to Pyongyang on October 29 and 30.
Cassis said on X that reopening the office was a “concrete step towards strengthening direct dialogue” with North Korea, adding: “Dialogue remains essential for peace and stability in the region,” according to Turkey’s Anadolu Agency.
First Federal Council visit in 23 years
The trip is the first visit to North Korea by a member of Switzerland’s Federal Council since then foreign minister Micheline Calmy-Rey went in 2003, Swiss broadcaster swissinfo.ch reported. In Pyongyang, Cassis was due to meet North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and a representative of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, while it was not known whether he would meet leader Kim Jong-un.
The FDFA said the talks would focus on resuming bilateral consultations between the two foreign ministries, the security situation on the Korean peninsula and global geopolitics. Cassis is then scheduled to travel to Seoul on October 30 and 31 to meet South Korean officials on the security situation and prospects for easing regional tensions.
“After several years of isolation, North Korea is gradually resuming its diplomatic contacts. Switzerland is seizing this opportunity to reopen dialogue,” FDFA spokesperson Nicolas Bideau told the Swiss daily Le Temps. “At a time of high geopolitical tension, we need more channels of communication, not fewer.”
Reports to Beijing embassy
The Pyongyang office reports to the Swiss embassy in Beijing, which remains responsible for diplomatic and consular relations with North Korea. Its predecessor closed in March 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to swissinfo.ch. The FDFA told Voice of America that Switzerland would look into resuming humanitarian cooperation, but that the move did not signal any change in its position on North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes or its commitment to enforcing international sanctions, Aju Press reported.
Switzerland established diplomatic ties with North Korea in 1974 and describes itself as one of the few Western countries to have kept up a political dialogue with Pyongyang since 2003. Since 1953 it has also served on the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission, which monitors the armistice that ended the fighting in the Korean War. Five Swiss officers are stationed at Panmunjom as part of the commission, alongside five Swedish officers, swissinfo.ch reported. The commission accompanies inspections, observes certain military activities and reports independently on compliance with the armistice agreement.
Anadolu Agency noted that it was not yet clear whether the office would eventually become a full-fledged embassy or remain a lower-level mission. For now, Swiss officials have framed the reopening as a practical channel for contact at a time of heightened tension, with the FDFA saying that through its presence in Pyongyang, Switzerland aims to maintain direct dialogue, including on matters of disagreement.
Source : BRICS NEWS, with information from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, swissinfo.ch, Le Temps, Anadolu Agency and Aju Press.
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