North Korea Confirms Closing Multiple Embassies

North Korea has confirmed on Friday it is shutting some embassies in an effort to “rearrange its diplomatic capacity efficiently.”

North Korea is poised to close as many as a dozen embassies including ones in Spain, Hong Kong, and various countries in Africa, according to media reports and analysts, which could mean the closure of nearly 25% of its missions worldwide.

A North Korean Foreign Ministry Spokesperson confirmed in comments on the Ministry website that some missions were closing while adding that new ones were opening.

“We are carrying out operations to withdraw and establish diplomatic missions in accordance with changing global environments and national foreign policy,” the Spokesperson said, calling it normal activity, and without giving any details.

REUTERS