‘Agreement to open embassy in North Korea’ Nicaragua suddenly dismisses ambassador to Korea

The Nicaraguan government in Latin America dismissed its ambassador to Korea without appointing a successor.

The Nicaraguan government announced in the Official Gazette on the 23rd (local time), “We are withdrawing the appointment of Ambassador Xenia Rus Arce Cepeda to Korea as of the 17th,” and “This will take effect immediately upon publication in the Official Gazette.”

Former Ambassador Arce Cepeda, who was appointed in May of last year, presented his credentials to President Yoon Seok-yeol on October 17 last year. Credential establishment is the process of delivering the credential granted by the head of state of the sending country to the new ambassador to the head of state of the host country.

The reason for the dismissal and whether a successor will be appointed are unknown.

Korea and Nicaragua established diplomatic relations in 1962. Diplomatic relations were frozen in 1979 with the establishment of the socialist Sandinista National Liberation Front government, and normalized again in August 1990 after President Violetta Chamorro took office. The Nicaraguan embassy in Korea was first established in 1995, closed two years later, and reopened in 2014.

The Daniel Ortega regime in Nicaragua has recently been strengthening diplomatic relations with authoritarian governments such as North Korea, China, and Russia. This is because economic sanctions were imposed by the United States and others after the detention and torture of opponents following large-scale protests that occurred in 2018.

Nicaragua agreed with North Korea in July last year to open an embassy in each other’s country. It has been 28 years since the embassy in North Korea was closed in 1995 due to estranged relations between the two countries and economic difficulties in North Korea.

The Nicaraguan government also joined hands with Russia, which has something in common: it is under sanctions from the United States. On the 22nd, Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo considered the sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union (EU) as ‘illegal aggression’ and signed an agreement with Russia to jointly respond to them. Last year, Russia decided to provide Nicaragua with modernized military equipment and to share nuclear technology that can be used in fields such as medicine and agriculture.

Nicaragua announced that it would cut diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 2021 and strengthened its front line against the United States by establishing a ‘strategic partnership’ relationship with China in December last year.

China signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with Nicaragua last year and strengthened economic cooperation, including providing a loan of $400 million (approximately 550 billion won) for the Punta Huete International Airport reconstruction project.