DPRK, Germany Establish Diplomatic TiesThe Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) established Thursday official diplomatic ties with Germany, the 11th member state of the European Union (EU) to have ties with it, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.The establishment of formal ties came after talks in Berlin on February 26-28 between representatives from the two sides, said the KCNA, citing a joint communique released by the DPRK Thursday. Both sides exchanged documents on the opening of the diplomatic ties at the ambassadorial level as of March 1, and agreed to send resident ambassadors to each other's capitals. The setting up of official ties between the two countries will create favorable conditions for the expansion and development of bilateral relations in the political, economic and cultural fields and for the discussions of issues of common concern, under the principle of mutual respect for sovereignty, non-interference in each other's internal affairs and equality, the communique said. Germany is the fifth Western country since the start of this year to set up diplomatic ties with the DPRK, which has forged official links with the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada and Spain earlier. |
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