Swedes keep room ready for US diplomats in Pyongyang
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Swedish diplomats are keeping a room ready for the U.S. to use if it ever decides to have an official presence in the North Korean capital.
The unmarked, slightly musty room next to the Swedish ambassador’s office in Pyongyang’s diplomatic quarter has been kept in an odd state of limbo for years.
On one shelf sits an issue of the Pyongyang Times from the days of detente between the late leader Kim Jong Il and President Bill Clinton. The top shelf is taken up by a newer edition — with a photo of the North’s current leader, Kim Jong Un, and President Donald Trump on its front page.
The room has more or less remained in this condition since a 1995 agreement that provided for the Swedes to serve as Washington’s “protective power” in North Korea. There were a lot of talks going on between the U.S. and North Korea at the time and it seemed like a good idea to prepare some sort of a foothold since the U.S. had no diplomatic relations with the North and thus no embassy of its own.
Read the full article in Associated Press.