MIAMI, United States. – The inauguration of the South Korean embassy in Cuba will be postponed until early next year, as officials from that country confirmed to the media. Korea Times. Initially, the opening date was scheduled for the end of 2024, but has been delayed due to challenges in obtaining materials and furniture on the Island.
According to reports, the delay is mainly due to logistical difficulties and a shortage of supplies in the Cuban market. Frequent power outages and the lack of fuel have also hindered operations, making it difficult even to acquire basic items for the new diplomatic headquarters.
Meanwhile, South Korean personnel maintain a temporary office in the Miramar Business Center, where the Cuban Telecommunications Company (ETECSA) and several airlines also operate.
According to Korea Timesthe Asian country would be requesting the collaboration of the Cuban authorities to expedite the process of opening its embassy.
The Cuban regime announced last June that was negotiating with South Korea to open their respective embassies “as soon as possible.”
The general director of Bilateral Affairs of the Cuban Foreign Ministry, Carlos Pereira, reported on the social network who had held “a fruitful working meeting” in Seoul with the Vice Minister for Political Affairs of the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chung Byung-won. In this meeting they discussed “the process of opening respective embassies” in both countries.
The diplomatic and consular relations between the Cuban regime and the Republic of Korea, which had been suspended in 1959were reestablished on February 14 through an exchange of diplomatic notes carried out between the Permanent Representations of both countries to the United Nations, in New York, in accordance with a brief statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) of the Island.
Diplomatic relations between both countries ended in 1959 due to the political and ideological rapprochement between the dictatorships of Cuba and North Korea.
Already in 2016, Havana and Seoul had taken a step in the normalization of their relations, when the chambers of commerce of both nations signed a memorandum of understanding to share information related to business, carry out exchanges between their delegations and organize joint forums, remembered the EFE news agency.
The rapprochement of Seoul and Havana generated discomfort in North Korea, a historical partner of the island’s regime since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1960. As a sign of discontent, the North Korean state press reduced its coverage of Cuba, according to Korea Times.
