North Korea closes embassy in Uganda dating back to Idi Amin’s brutal rule

The move to close the embassy in Kampala ends a half-century of diplomatic presence by Pyongyang in one of its longest-standing African allies

North Korea has provided Uganda with weapons and other military equipment as well as training for its security forces in the past

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A North Korean security chief visits a Ugandan police training academy in Kampala in 2013. North Korea helped provide training to Uganda’s police force from 1988 to 2016. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:05am, 25 Oct 2023Updated: 10:07am, 25 Oct 2023

North Korea is closing its embassy in Uganda, officials said, ending a half-century of diplomatic presence in one of its longest-standing African allies.

The move was announced after a meeting on Monday between Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and North Korean ambassador Jong Tong-hak.

“Ambassador Jong informed the president that North Korea has taken a strategic measure to reduce the number of embassies in Africa, Uganda inclusive, in order to increase efficiency of the country’s external institutions,” said a Ugandan presidency statement shared on Tuesday.

Ugandan President Idi Amin. North Korea supported his 1971 coup and provided his forces with training and weapons. Photo: AP

“Our good friendship will continue and will be further strengthened and developed,” Jong was quoted as saying, adding that diplomatic links would now be handled through its embassy in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.

Jong hailed Museveni “for consistently supporting the Korean government in enforcing its peaceful efforts to realise a harmonious unification of the Korean peninsula”, the statement added.

North Korea forged links with Uganda shortly after independence from Britain in 1962, and it supported Idi Amin when he seized power in 1971, providing his forces with training and weapons.

It opened the embassy in Kampala a year later as the international community shunned Amin, whose brutal rule lasted until 1979.

North Korea closes embassy in Uganda dating back to Idi Amin’s brutal rule

The move to close the embassy in Kampala ends a half-century of diplomatic presence by Pyongyang in one of its longest-standing African allies North Korea has provided Uganda with weapons and other military equipment as well as training for its security forces in the past

The move to close the embassy in Kampala ends a half-century of diplomatic presence by Pyongyang in one of its longest-standing African allies

North Korea has provided Uganda with weapons and other military equipment as well as training for its security forces in the past