Swiss foreign minister talks political ties on rare visit to North Korea

Switzerland formally reopens diplomatic office in North Korea after its closure in 2020.

Al JazeeraAl Jazeera Staff2026-10-30 15:37查看原文 ↗

Switzerland formally reopens diplomatic office in North Korea after its closure in 2020.

Switzerland's Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis and his wife Paola Cassis are greeted by a North Korean official upon arriving at Pyongyang International Airport [Kim Won Jin/AFP]

Switzerland has formally reopened its diplomatic office in North Korea as Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis held talks in Pyongyang about normalising political relations between the two countries.

On Friday Cassis wrapped up a two-day visit to North Korea – the first by a Swiss government minister in more than two decades – in which he discussed “regularising political relations and reestablishing a political dialogue”, he wrote on X.

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Cassis, who is also Switzerland’s vice president, met Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui and Jo Yong Won, a secretary of the Central Committee of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party.

“We also exchanged views on security on the Korean Peninsula and broader Eurasian security challenges,” he added on X.

After the formal reopening of the Swiss diplomatic office on Thursday, Cassis posted that he was “pleased” to mark a “new chapter” in his country’s presence in Pyongyang, hailing the office as a “concrete step towards strengthening direct dialogue” with North Korea.

The office, operational since October 19, will not have an ambassador. It reports to the Swiss embassy in Beijing, which handles diplomatic and consular relations with North Korea. The office had closed in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This office will help to strengthen direct contacts with the authorities of the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] and support political dialogue with them,” the Swiss Foreign Ministry said.

North Korea’s state news agency KCNA confirmed Cassis’s arrival in the country on Thursday but gave no details on the purpose of the visit. It had not been known beforehand whether he would meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un , and there has been no report of a meeting.

Bern said it intended to maintain its commitment to the region amid heightened tensions and limited international contact with North Korea, having been one of the few Western countries to keep up a dialogue with Pyongyang.

The last Swiss Federal Council member to visit was then-Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, in 2003.

Cassis crossed into South Korea on Friday for the final leg of his regional trip.

According to the Swiss foreign ministry, his talks in Seoul will focus on security on the peninsula, prospects for easing regional tensions and bilateral ties.

Switzerland’s involvement on the Korean Peninsula dates back more than 70 years, including its role on the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission.

Also in South Korea, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz invoked his country’s reunification during a visit to the inter-Korean border. “Let us hope that Korea, too, will one day have the chance to regain its national unity,” he said.

瑞士正式重新开放其在朝鲜的外交机构，该机构于 2020 年关闭。

瑞士外交部长伊格纳齐奥·卡西斯和他的妻子保拉·卡西斯抵达平壤国际机场时，受到一名朝鲜官员的迎接。[金元镇/法新社]

瑞士正式重新开放其驻朝鲜外交机构，此前瑞士外交部长伊格纳齐奥·卡西斯在平壤举行会谈，讨论两国政治关系正常化事宜。

卡西斯周五结束了对朝鲜为期两天的访问——这是二十多年来瑞士政府部长首次访问朝鲜——他在X上写道，访问期间他讨论了“规范政治关系和重建政治对话”。

朝鲜在靠近韩国边境地区发现的三门榴弹炮（列表 1/3）

朝鲜发射导弹，地雷爆炸争端加剧（共3条，此为第2条）

报告称，3名被招募到俄罗斯从事强迫劳动的朝鲜人中，有3人被列入名单。

瑞士副总统卡西斯会见了韩国外交部长崔善姬和韩国执政党劳动党中央委员会书记赵勇元。

“我们还就朝鲜半岛安全以及更广泛的欧亚安全挑战交换了意见，”他在X上补充道。

周四瑞士外交办事处正式重新开放后，卡西斯发帖称，他“很高兴”标志着瑞士在平壤的存在开启了“新篇章”，并称赞该办事处是“加强与朝鲜直接对话的具体一步”。

该办事处自10月19日起运作，不设大使。它向负责处理瑞士与朝鲜外交和领事关系的瑞士驻北京大使馆汇报工作。该办事处在2020年3月新冠疫情期间关闭。

瑞士外交部表示：“该办事处将有助于加强与朝鲜民主主义人民共和国当局的直接联系，并支持与他们进行政治对话。”