Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis is due to begin a three-day trip to North and South Korea.
Keystone-SDA
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis is due to begin a three-day trip to North and South Korea. On Thursday and Friday, he will be in Pyongyang, where he will attend the offiical reopening of the Swiss diplomatic office.
On Saturday, the foreign minister will continue his trip to South Korea. The last – and indeed the only – member of the Federal Council to visit North Korea was Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey in 2003.
The diplomatic office in the North Korean capital resumed operations on October 19, 2026. The permanent diplomatic mission aims to “strengthen direct contacts with the North Korean authorities and promote political dialogue”, the Swiss foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
The office reports to the Swiss embassy in Beijing, China, which remains responsible for diplomatic and consular relations with North Korea. It was closed in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“After several years of isolation”, North Korea is gradually resuming diplomatic contacts with other countries, Nicolas Bideau, head of communications at the foreign ministry, told the Keystone-ATS news agency. Switzerland is therefore seizing this opportunity to re-establish its diplomatic presence in the country.
Meeting with Kim Jong-un?
To mark the reopening of the office, Cassis will also hold political talks, the ministry has announced. But it is not known whether there will be an official meeting with leader Kim Jong-un.
Instead, the minister from canton Ticino will meet North Korea’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Choe Son-hui, as well as a representative of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), the Swiss ministry said. Discussions will also focus on the resumption of bilateral consultations between the Swiss foreign ministry and the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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‘Long-standing’ commitment and sanctions
Bideau described Switzerland’s diplomatic engagement with North Korea as “long-standing and concrete”, adding that, at the same time, Switzerland enforces UN Security Council sanctions, particularly those relating to North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
“Our aim remains to contribute to peace and stability in the region, whilst upholding our principles and values,” added Bideau.
Since 1953, Switzerland has been involved in monitoring the armistice concluded that same year on the Korean Peninsula. This armistice effectively still functions as a ceasefire, with the creation of a Demilitarised Zone along the 38th parallel.
In this context, five Swiss officers are stationed at Panmunjom as part of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC), alongside five Swedish officers.
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The commission accompanies inspections, observes certain military activities and reports independently on compliance with the agreement.
Regular dialogue since 2003
Switzerland has maintained diplomatic relations with North Korea since 1974 and has engaged in regular political dialogue since 2003. Micheline Calmy-Rey has so far been the only member of the Swiss government to pay a diplomatic visit to North Korea. “It was a different era,” she told Keystone-ATS.
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Following Calmy-Rey’s trip to North Korea, the then Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong travelled to Bern in 2014 for a courtesy visit.
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) had opened an office in Pyongyang in 1997. This office supported projects primarily in the sectors of agriculture and drinking water supply. The SDC’s last humanitarian programmes came to an end in 2024.
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Translated from Italian, reviewed by an English Department journalist.
