Hoping To Carve Out Further Diplomatic Legitimacy, North Korea Sends Top Delegation to Iran

North Korea is sending top economic officials to Iran for bilateral talks, the state-run Korean Central News said Wednesday.

This week’s in-person talks between Pyongyang and Tehran are the first since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The last recorded visit of a senior North Korean official to Iran was in 2019, when Pak Chol Min, vice chair of the country’s puppet parliament, completed a weeklong trip.

Despite closing its borders, North Korea has maintained friendly diplomatic relations with Iran, pursuing mutual geopolitical interests.

Yun Jong Ho, minister of external economic relations and leader of North Korea’s diplomatic team, flew to Iran on Tuesday, reported state media.

Given Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un’s recent rhetoric about a potential major conflict with the West, Yun’s delegation is likely seeking stronger ties with Iran to support Kim’s declaration of a “new Cold War.”

Kim has recently been emphasizing his desire to build an interstate coalition able to counter the United States-led bloc’s perceived hegemony, in September calling the military cooperation between South Korea, Japan, and the US “the Asian version of NATO, the root cause of war and aggression.”

Both Iran and North Korea are accused of supplying weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine, and both openly support President Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion.