MÉRIDA, Mexico -. Approximately a month after his appointment, Han Su Chol, new ambassador to Cuba of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, arrived in Havana.
The representative of the Kim Jong-un regime was received by the ruler of the Cuban regime Miguel Díaz-Canel, reported the Cuban News Agency (ACN).
“Now it is up to Kim Jong-un and us to continue demonstrating the strengthening of these relations,” said Díaz-Canel, who recalled the historical alliance between the two autocracies.
The relationship between both countries is founded on the founding basis, established by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro and the Great Leader Kim Il Sun, Díaz-Canel highlighted.
Since March, the Korean diplomatic headquarters in Havana was without an ambassador, after Ma Chol-su was recalled.
In August, Han Su-chol He was appointed as North Korean ambassador to Havanaseveral months after the former ambassador, Ma Chol-su, returned home.
Han Su-chol was previously deputy director of the international department of the ruling Workers’ Party (WPK), and his name began appearing in North Korean state media starting in 2022.
In recent months, Pyongyang has shown its discontent regarding the establishment of diplomatic ties between Seoul and Havana, avoiding mentioning the Island in reports in the Rodong Sinmun, the main North Korean newspaper.
On July 16, it also emerged that the senior North Korean diplomat stationed in Cuba, Ri Il-kyu, defected with his wife and son to South Korea in November 2023.
This event marked the highest-ranking defection of a North Korean diplomat to the South since 2016.
Ri Il-kyu, 52, had been a counselor at the North Korean embassy in Havana since 2019 and his role was to “obstruct the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Cuba,” the diplomat revealed to the South Korean newspaper Chosun. Yonhap news agency also confirmed the defection, citing an unnamed government source.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry, responsible for inter-Korean affairs, declined to comment on the case, citing privacy concerns.
Details about North Korean defections often take months to emerge, as defectors must obtain approval from authorities and complete an education course about South Korean society and systems.
