Brussels, 08/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - Although North Korea has said it is unable to guarantee the safety of embassies to the country from 10 April, it seems no embassy has decided to make any changes to its normal routine, according to the South Korean news agency, Yonhap.
Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria all have diplomatic missions in North Korea. Their diplomats are in permanent contact to assess the situation. According to British Foreign Secretary William Hague, it was a case of North Korea asking if embassy staff intended to leave rather then advising them to leave.
“We've decided not to evacuate anybody”, said the spokesperson for the Polish ministry of foreign affairs, adding “we believe it's a case of rhetoric for domestic political consumption”. The German minister stated that “the safety of the German embassy and its exposure to danger are permanently under assessment” and that “at this stage, the embassy can continue to work”. For the United Kingdom, “no decision has been taken and we have no immediate plans to evacuate our embassy”. France, which does not have an embassy in North Korea, said “that there are no plans at this stage to evacuate staff from the French cooperation office, or French nationals who work for non-governmental organisations and UN agencies in North Korea”, adding that France is taking the situation “seriously” (our translation throughout).
United Nations staff are also continuing their humanitarian and development aid work. (CG/transl.fl)