A proposal from North Korea to open diplomatic relations with Ireland will only be considered in the light of progress on human rights issues and the reduction of tension between North and South Korea.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea this week wrote to the foreign ministers of eight EU member-states, including Ireland, with a proposal to establish relations. The official North Korean news agency, KCNA, said the Foreign Minister, Mr Paek Nam Sun, had also written to the EU's External Relations Commissioner, Mr Chris Patten, proposing formal ties with Brussels.
The move reflects the opening-up of the secretive Stalinist state following a long period of Cold War isolation. EU foreign ministers have welcomed South Korea's policy of engagement with the North, adding that direct dialogue between the two states was essential for lasting peace. However, the EU ministers expressed concern about "serious human rights violations", particularly in regard to political prisoners, and the absence of co-operation with "international human rights mechanisms".
A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said yesterday: "We will be consulting with our EU partners and will consider the question of diplomatic relations only in the light of satisfactory progress on human rights issues and implementation of measures to reduce tensions on the Korean peninsula."
As well as Ireland and the EU, North Korea has sent letters to Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Spain. The German foreign ministry said it would welcome a move by Pyongyang to renounce the use of weapons of mass destruction: "Up till now not much has been done, however."
Last January, Italy became the first of the G7 Group to establish diplomatic relations with North Korea. Australia also established ties this year and a New Zealand foreign ministry delegation is in Pyongyang this week. The ending of its diplomatic isolation was heralded by a North-South summit meeting in June between its leader, Mr Kim Jong-Il and South Korea's President, Mr Kim Dae-Jung.