South Korea, Cuba to set up permanent missions in each other's capitals

The Cuban flag flutters in the wind after being raised at the Cuban Embassy reopening ceremony in Washington in this file photo dated July 20, 2015. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

South Korea and Cuba will open permanent missions in each other’s countries, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry announced Sunday.

The move comes after the two nations established diplomatic relations in February.

A government delegation led by a coordinating officer visited Cuba last Wednesday to Saturday, where it agreed with Cuban authorities to set up permanent missions in Seoul and Havana.

South Korea and Cuba exchanged diplomatic documents confirming the agreement.

“Based on this agreement, we plan to continue discussions with the Cuban side so that our embassy in Havana can open as soon as possible,” the Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

As an intermediate step to opening an embassy, the South Korean government plans to set up a temporary office in Havana and dispatch staff to prepare for the opening of a mission in the capital city.

South Korea and Cuba established diplomatic relations on Feb. 14 through their representative offices at the UN in New York.

“The establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba, the only country in Central and South America and the Caribbean that we did not have ties with, is an important turning point in strengthening our diplomacy with South America,” Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said at the time.

Cuba has long maintained close relations with North Korea, having established ties with the North in 1960, a year after the Cuban Revolution, which saw Fidel Castro take power. The move to establish diplomatic relations with South Korea was a surprise, especially to North Korea, which scrambled to reopen European embassies in Pyongyang after the announcement.

Castro maintained close ties with Kim Il Sung, the founder of the North Korean regime.

The Cuban president's 1986 visit and meetings with Kim and his son, Kim Jong-il, received the media spotlight, as did the North's aid to Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis and at the end of the Cold War.

Seoul attributed its success in turning the North's old ally into the South's new partner to bilateral economic and cultural ties, including the influence of Hallyu.

Around 14,000 South Koreans visited Cuba every year before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Descendants of Korean immigrants who moved to Cuba from Mexico in the 1920s also number around 1,100.

According to the ministry, Korea exported $14 million in goods to Cuba and imported some $7 million in 2022.

The Foreign Ministry hopes opening a South Korean diplomatic mission in Havana will enable more systemic consular assistance for Korean nationals staying in or visiting Cuba.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]