The American soldier who is probably caught by the North Korean authorities hardly has a good chance of coming home with only his homeland behind him. That because there are no diplomatic relations between the US and North Korea.
The White House announced yesterday that it had contacted two countries for help with the situation: South Korea and Sweden.
The reason why Sweden was specifically contacted is that Sweden has long been a protecting power for the United States in North Korea. This means that the state takes it upon itself to protect US interests in the country in certain respects.
Long relationship
Sweden is the EU country that has had an embassy in Pyongyang for the longest time, and was until 2001 the only EU country with an embassy in the capital. North Korea, for its part, has an embassy in Stockholm.
Diplomatic relations were established as early as 1973, which is one of the reasons why Sweden has such a good relationship with the country, according to Niklas Swanström, North Korea expert and head of the Institute for Security and Development Policy, ISDP.
– We recognized North Korea early on, and since then we have had good diplomats on the Swedish side.
“A card of its own”
The last time Sweden helped in negotiations between the countries was in 2018. Then three Americans who had been imprisoned in North Korea for a long time were released.
How it will go this time, and whether Sweden will participate in talks, is difficult to know.
– North Korea is a card in itself and that is why many states choose not to have diplomatic relations there, says Niklas Swanström.
However, he believes that Sweden has a good reputation when it comes to negotiations with the dictatorship.
– The times Sweden has acted as an intermediary have been quite successful. When it comes to North Korea, Sweden is probably the channel that is most appreciated internationally, and that is no bad praise for our Ministry of Foreign Affairs.