Albania–North Korea relations

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Albania–North Korea relations
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Albania
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North Korea

Diplomatic relations between Albania and North Korea were established on November 28, 1948, [1] over one and a half months after the DPRK was proclaimed. The communist governments of Enver Hoxha and Kim Il Sung were often compared for their similarities in their diplomatic isolation and Stalinist-style regimes. [2]

Contents

History

Cold War

During the Korean War, North Korea and the Korean People's Army were supported diplomatically by Albania. They were articles which North Korea criticize Tito's Yugoslavia and took a side with Albania during Korean War. From 29 June to 1 July 1956, First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania Enver Hoxha hosted Premier Kim Il Sung in Tirana on a state visit. [3] [4] [5] [6] On 6 June 1959, Hoxha and Prime Minister Mehmet Shehu received Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly (head of state) Choe Yong-gon on an official goodwill visit. In 1961, Albania and North Korea signed a joint declaration of friendship. [7]

Sino-Soviet Split and deterioration

According to Charles Armstrong, Albania was a “litmus test” for determining North Korea’s position in the Sino-Soviet split. [8] During the Sino-Soviet split, North Korea took a neutral position while Albania supported the Chinese, contributing to the deterioration of relations. This had an effect on Albanian-Korean contacts, with the Albanian ambassador claiming in October 1961 that Premier Kim during a congress meeting in Moscow "could and should have had more contacts with our delegation" and that "he was afraid of being noticed by the Soviets.” That month, the Albanian embassy to Pyongyang was allowed to spread anti-Soviet pamphlets after prior consultations with the North Korean government. At a WPK general meeting in March 1962, Premier Kim admitted that “we (North Korea) must prepare for the contingency that the Soviet Union will cast us aside in the same way as it happened to Albania.” [8]

In the 1970s, relations between the two nations deteriorated, with Hoxha writing in June 1977 that the Korean Workers' Party had betrayed communism by accepting foreign aid (particularly between the Eastern Bloc and countries such as Yugoslavia). His condemnation of the DPRK contributed to the development of his own ideology of Hoxhaism, which labeled countries like North Korea as "revisionist". He also slammed Kim's cult of personality, which he claimed "has reached a level unheard of anywhere else, either in past or present times, let alone in a country which calls itself socialist." [9] [10] As a result, relations between the two nations would continue to remain frosty until the 1985 death of Hoxha and the subsequent fall of the People's Socialist Republic he created.[ citation needed ]

Modern era

Relations are almost non-existent after 1990, due to Albania establishing stronger relations with South Korea. In November 2012, on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Independence of Albania, North Korean head of state Kim Yong-nam sent a congratulatory message to Albanian President Bujar Nishani. [2] Today, North Korea is represented in Albania by its embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria. [11]

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Enver Hoxha was an Albanian communist politician who was the ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 until his death, a member of its Politburo, chairman of the Democratic Front of Albania, and commander-in-chief of the Albanian People's Army. He was the twenty-second prime minister of Albania from 1944 to 1954 and at various times was both foreign minister and defence minister of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albanian–Chinese split</span> Cold War communist schism

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choe Yong-gon (official)</span> North Korean politician (1900–1976)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">People's Socialist Republic of Albania</span> Socialist State in Southeastern Europe from 1946 to 1991

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mongolia–North Korea relations</span> Bilateral relations

Mongolia–North Korea relations are the historic and current bilateral relations between Mongolia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">China–North Korea relations</span> Bilateral relations

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Il Sung</span> Leader of North Korea from 1948 to 1994

Kim Il Sung was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he led as Supreme Leader from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. Afterwards, he was succeeded by his son Kim Jong Il and was declared Eternal President.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Korea–Serbia relations</span> Bilateral relations

North Korea–Serbia relations are the bilateral relations between Serbia and North Korea. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea had established diplomatic relations on October 30, 1948. Relations had been very close during the time of Josip Broz Tito and Kim Il Sung. Both leaders had taken a neutral stance during the Sino-Soviet split and maintained friendly relations with both the Soviet Union and China. Both Serbia and North Korea are members of the Non-Aligned Movement. Yugoslavia, of which Serbia was a part, was one of the movement's founding members. Both countries closed their embassies in each other's capitals in October and November 2001, respectively, for financial reasons. Nevertheless, they continue to enjoy a close relationship. The Serbian Embassy to North Korea is accredited from Beijing, China, and the North Korean embassy to Serbia is accredited from Bucharest, Romania.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hoxhaism</span> Variant of Marxism–Leninism

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An International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties was held in Moscow, Soviet Union, November 16–19, 1957. The meeting was attended by 64 political parties from all over the world. The meeting was the first of its kind, marking a new form of forum for the world communist movement following the disbanding of the Communist International (Comintern) and the Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers' Parties (Cominform). Four additional parties attended clandestinely out of fear of repercussions at home.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embassy of China, Pyongyang</span> Diplomatic mission

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Korea–Yugoslavia relations</span> Bilateral relations

North Korea–Yugoslavia relations were historical foreign relations between North Korea and now broken up Yugoslavia. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea established diplomatic relations on 30 October 1948. During the initial period of the Korean conflict, motivated by the recent Tito-Stalin split and contrary to other countries in Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia remained firmly not aligned to any of the blocs in the Korean War. Yugoslavian literature compared attack on South Korea by North Korea as similar to the attack on Yugoslavia by the German Army and the attack on Hawaii by the Japanese army while Yugoslav representation at the United Nations even accused the Soviet Union of having started the Korean War.

References

  1. "Countries that have established diplomatic relations with the DPRK". North Korea in the World. 2016-04-06. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  2. 1 2 "Reclusive North Korea Salutes Albanian Birthday". November 30, 2012.
  3. "Mission of Friendship: Friendly Visit of the D.P.R.K. Government Delegation to the U.S.S.R. and Other Fraternal People's Democracies". Foreign Languages Publishing House. November 27, 1956 via Google Books.
  4. "Kur gjyshi i Kim Jong Un vizitonte Shqipërinë dhe takohej me Enver Hoxhën (Video) - Shqiptarja.com". shqiptarja.com.
  5. "La bufala della foto di Enver Hoxha con Kim Il Sung in Corea del Nord". Albania News. September 1, 2009.
  6. Kim, Cheehyung Harrison (2018-11-06). Heroes and Toilers: Work as Life in Postwar North Korea, 1953–1961. Columbia University Press. ISBN   978-0-231-54609-6.
  7. "Wilson Center Digital Archive". digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org.
  8. 1 2 "Comrades disunited: North Korea and the Soviet-Albanian split | NK News". 15 August 2019.
  9. Enver Hoxha, "Reflections on China II: Extracts from the Political Diary", Institute of Marxist–Leninist Studies at the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania," Tirana, 1979, pp 516, 517, 521, 547, 548, 549.
  10. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Research 17 December 1979 quoting Hoxha's Reflections on China Volume II: "In Pyongyang, I believe that even Tito will be astonished at the proportions of the cult of his host, which has reached a level unheard of anywhere else, either in past or present times, let alone in a country which calls itself socialist." "Albanian Leader's 'Reflections on China,' Volume II". CEU.hu. Archived from the original on 8 September 2009. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
  11. "Ministria për Evropën dhe Punët e Jashtme" (PDF).