Broke and Embattled: North Korea Shuts Down Embassies Amid Financial Crisis

North Korea has continued to close many of its few embassies in the world, increasing suspicions about an ongoing financial crisis.

According to reports published on Friday, the hermit kingdom will close its embassy in Nepal.

North Korea has deliberately pulled out from at least five countries in the last few months, all ostensibly to restructure its diplomatic relations.

According to Yonhap News Agency’s translations, a North Korean foreign ministry spokesperson wrote in an email earlier this month: “We are conducting missions to withdraw and set up diplomatic missions according to the changed global climate and national diplomatic policies.”

In recent months, Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un approved the withdrawal of troops from Nepal, Spain, and Angola.

Experts in South Korea claim that the closures are a sign of a rapidly worsening financial situation among their northern counterparts.

According to Yonhap’s translations, the South Korean Unification Ministry stated last month that “the flurry” of measures shows it is not feasible for North Korea to maintain diplomatic missions because their efforts to acquire foreign currency have stalled due to the strengthened sanctions.

North Korea is unable to feed its population sustainably through standard trade or domestic production and relies on the help of allies — sometimes even enemies — to stop starvation.

Defecting diplomats claim that North Korean embassies receive a large portion of their funding from illegal activities and money-making schemes.

North Korean diplomats have caused international incidents in the past by participating or facilitating counterfeiting, and human and drug trafficking.

Kim Jong-Un’s regime seems to be making great efforts to build relationships with Russia and China at the same time that he is rearranging diplomatically.

In the past few months, both China and South Korea have sent diplomatic missions to North Korea.