WASHINGTON, South Korea established diplomatic relations with Cuba on Wednesday, its mission to the United Nations said, in a culmination of steadfast efforts to build the formal relationship with the Latin American nation.
In New York, the two countries’ representatives to the U.N. exchanged diplomatic notes marking the establishment of the formal ties, according to it. Cuba is the 193rd country which South Korea has built such diplomatic relations with.
Cuba is one of the few countries that have close relations with North Korea. South Korea had had no official relations with Cuba since the 1959 Cuban revolution.
“The decision to establish official relations between both states was made in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, International Law, and in conformity with the spirit and rules established in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 18 April 1961,” the mission said in a release.
The current Yoon Suk Yeol administration is known to have pushe
d for the opening of the official ties with Cuba in a low-key manner apparently in consideration of the country’s relations with the North.
In 2016, former Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se expressed Seoul’s intent to forge diplomatic ties with Cuba during his official trip there.
Source: Yonhap News Agency