Cuba Establishes Diplomatic Relations with South Korea

The Cuban Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that Cuba has established diplomatic relations with South Korea through the exchange of official letters in New York.

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The letters were exchanged between the missions of the two countries to the United Nations to set up their ambassador-level diplomatic ties, according to the Cuban ministry.

"The establishment of official relations between the two countries was carried out in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, international law and in conformity with the spirit and norms set forth in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of April 18, 1961," the statement said. 

For its part, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said that the establishment of diplomatic relations was an important turning point for Seoul to strengthen and expand diplomacy in Latin America. 

The Ministry added that it would contribute to expanding substantial cooperation between the two countries.

Some 14,000 South Koreans had visited Cuba annually before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, while trade between the two countries amounted to 21 million dollars in 2022.

In this regard, it is worth mentioning that in May 2016, the chambers of commerce of the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding in the interest of boosting bilateral cooperation, especially the exchange of business-related information.

Cuba approved the Republic of Korea, the official name of South Korea, in 1949, but exchanges between the two countries had been cut off since the Cuban socialist revolution of 1959.