List of ambassadors of Sweden to North Korea

Ambassador of Sweden to North Korea
Lesser coat of arms of the Kingdom of Sweden
Incumbent Andreas Bengtsson since 1 September 2021
Ministry for Foreign Affairs Swedish Embassy, Pyongyang
Style	His or Her Excellency (formal) Mr. or Madam Ambassador (informal)
Reports to	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Residence	Munsudong 3, Taedonggang-guyok
Seat	Pyongyang, North Korea
Appointer	Government of Sweden
Term length	No fixed term
Inaugural holder	Arne Björnberg
Formation	May 1973
Website	Swedish Embassy, Pyongyang

The Ambassador of Sweden to North Korea (known formally as the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) is the official representative of the government of Sweden to the Supreme Leader and government of North Korea. Sweden is the protecting power of United States interests in North Korea. Until 2001, Sweden was the only western state with unbroken diplomatic representation in the city. The Swedish embassy has consular representation for Australia, Canada and the Nordic countries.

History

On 6 April 1973, the Swedish government decided, as the first Western European country, in the Council of State to recognize North Korea. ^[1] Two days later, on 8 April, North Korea announced that it had received and accepted Sweden's proposal to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries. ^[2] In May of the same year, Sweden's ambassador in Beijing, Arne Björnberg, was also accredited to North Korea. ^[3] Björnberg presented his credentials to President Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang on 24 May 1973. Björnberg was the first diplomat to present his credentials to Kim Il Sung, who had become president the year before. ^[4]

On 6 December 1974, Erik Cornell was appointed Sweden's first counsellor and chargé d'affaires ad interim in Pyongyang. ^[5] The Swedish embassy opened in February 1975. ^[6] Until 2002, the Swedish ambassador was still accredited from Beijing, when Paul Beijer was appointed as Sweden's first resident ambassador in Pyongyang. ^[7]

List of representatives

Name	Period	Resident/Non resident	Title	Notes	Ref
Arne Björnberg	May 1973 – 1974	Non-resident	Ambassador	Resident in Beijing.	[3] [8]
Kaj Björk	1975–1979	Non-resident	Ambassador	Resident in Beijing.	[9]
Erik Cornell	1975–1977	Resident	Chargé d'affaires [a]		[10] [11]
Karlerik Nordenquist	1977–1979	Resident	Chargé d'affaires [a]		[12]
Ingolf Kiesow	1979–1981	Resident	Chargé d'affaires [a]		[13] [14]
Sten Sundfeldt	1980–1982	Non-resident	Ambassador	Resident in Beijing.	[15]
–	1983–1983	Non-resident	Ambassador	Vacant	[16]
Per Fritzson	1982–1983	Resident	Chargé d'affaires [a]		[16] [17]
Ulla Boija	1983–1985	Resident	Chargé d'affaires [a]		[18]
Lars Bergquist	1984–1988	Non-resident	Ambassador	Resident in Beijing.	[19]
Gudmund Naessén	1985–1988	Resident	Chargé d'affaires [a]		[19] [20]
Björn Skala	1988–1991	Non-resident	Ambassador	Resident in Beijing.	[21]
Göran Wide	1989–1992	Resident	Chargé d'affaires [a]		[22] [23]
Sven Linder	1992–1997	Non-resident	Ambassador	Resident in Beijing.	[24]
–	1993–1994	Resident	Chargé d'affaires	Vacant	[25] [26]
Åke Lövquist	1995–1997	Resident	Chargé d'affaires [a]		[24] [27]
Kjell Anneling	1997–2002	Non-resident	Ambassador	Resident in Beijing.	[28]
Svante Kilander	1998–2001	Resident	Chargé d'affaires [b]		[29]
Paul Beijer	2001–2002	Resident	Chargé d'affaires [b]		[28]
Paul Beijer	2002–2005	Resident	Ambassador		[30]
Mats Foyer	2005–2010	Resident	Ambassador		[31]
Barbro Elm	2010–2012	Resident	Ambassador		[32]
Karl-Olof Andersson	2012–2014	Resident	Ambassador		[32]
Torkel Stiernlöf	2014–2017	Resident	Ambassador		[33]
Jonas Wendel	1 September 2017 – 2019	Resident	Ambassador		[34]
Joachim Bergström	1 September 2019 – 2021	Resident	Ambassador		[35]
Andreas Bengtsson	1 September 2021 – present	Resident	Ambassador		[36]

See also

• North Korea–Sweden relations

Footnotes

1. Held the diplomatic rank of embassy counsellor.
2. Held the diplomatic rank of minister.

References

1. Östlund, Bo (7 April 1973). "Kongressnyhet i Södertälje: Sverige erkänner Nordkorea. "Nordisk enighet i frågan"" [Congress news in Södertälje: Sweden recognizes North Korea. "Nordic unity on the issue"]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). p. 11. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
2. "Nordkorea accepterar erkännandet" [North Korea accepts recognition]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Tokyo. AP. 9 April 1973. p. 7. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
3. Sandström, Margareta, ed. (27 January 1974). "Nöjd exportör" [Satisfied exporter]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). p. 16. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
4. "Nordkorea öppnar sig åt Europa" [North Korea opens up to Europe]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). 25 May 1973. p. 16. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
5. Nordenson, Magdalena, ed. (7 December 1974). "namn i dag" [names of today]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). p. 2a. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
6. Lamm, Lovisa (11 April 2010). "Smuggelhärvan på nordkoreanska ambassaden" [The smuggling scandal at the North Korean embassy]. P3 Dokumentär (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio P3 . Retrieved 5 March 2025.
7. "Sverige berett till diplomati efter avhoppet". Expressen (in Swedish). TT. 10 January 2003. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
8. Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1981 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1981] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. 1980. p. 120. ISBN   91-1-805012-3. SELIBR   3681525.
9. Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1979). Sveriges statskalender 1979 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Liber. p. 344. ISBN   91-38-04622-9. SELIBR   3682760.
10. Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1977). Sveriges statskalender 1977 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Liber/Allmänna. p. 444. ISBN   91-38-03338-0. SELIBR   3682758.
11. Salander Mortensen, Jill, ed. (1996). Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1997 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1997] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. p. 216. ISBN   91-1-960852-7. SELIBR   3681533.
12. Uddling, Hans; Paabo, Katrin, eds. (1992). Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1993 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1993] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. p. 810. ISBN   91-1-914072-X. SELIBR   8261513.
13. Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1981). Sveriges statskalender 1981 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Liber. p. 354. ISBN   91-38-06008-6. SELIBR   3682762.
14. Pileby, Axel (25 July 2012). "Någon kommer att råka illa ut för det här" [Someone is going to get hurt by this]. Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 14 August 2024.
15. Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1982). Sveriges statskalender 1982 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Liber/Allmänna. p. 366. ISBN   9138067307. SELIBR   3682763.
16. Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1983). Sveriges statskalender 1983 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Liber/Allmänna. p. 353. ISBN   9138071576. SELIBR   3682764.
17. Jönsson, Lena, ed. (2000). Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 2001 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 2001] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. p. 364. ISBN   9172850426. SELIBR   8261515.
18. Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (1985). Sveriges statskalender 1985 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Liber Allmänna. p. 352. ISBN   91-38-90564-7. SELIBR   3682783.
19. Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (1988). Sveriges statskalender 1988 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Allmänna. p. 366. ISBN   91-38-09927-6. SELIBR   3682767.
20. Hultman, Barbro, ed. (20 April 1985). "namn" [name]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). p. 19. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
21. Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (1991). Sveriges statskalender 1991 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Allmänna. p. 354. ISBN   9138125277. SELIBR   3682770.
22. Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (1992). Sveriges statskalender 1992 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Allmänna. p. 358. ISBN   913812694X. SELIBR   3682771.
23. Knutson, Mats (12 December 1992). "Nordkorea utan ambassadör" [North Korea without ambassador]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). p. 14. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
24. Almqvist, Gerd, ed. (1997). Sveriges statskalender 1997 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes. p. 185. ISBN   9138309734. SELIBR   3682776.
25. Almqvist, Gerd, ed. (1993). Sveriges statskalender 1993 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Allmänna. p. 350. ISBN   9138128098. SELIBR   3682772.
26. Almqvist, Gerd, ed. (1994). Sveriges statskalender 1994 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes. p. 183. ISBN   9138129485. SELIBR   3682773.
27. Mattisson, Birgitta (29 March 2003). "I den stund som det skickades militära trupper till området, så var det egentligen avgjort" [The moment military troops were sent to the area, it was really decided.]. Kristianstadsbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 14 August 2024.
28. Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (2002). Sveriges statskalender 2002 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes. p. 185. ISBN   9138319519. SELIBR   8428312.
29. Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (2001). Sveriges statskalender 2001 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes. p. 183. ISBN   9138318385. SELIBR   8261601.
30. Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (2005). Sveriges statskalender 2005 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes. p. 181. ISBN   9138321971. SELIBR   9879458.
31. Sveriges statskalender 2010 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedts Juridik AB/Fritzes. 2010. p. 187. ISBN   978-91-38-32520-9. SELIBR   11846164.
32. "Ny ambassadör i hemligt Nordkorea" [New ambassador to secretive North Korea]. Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). TT-TT Spektra. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
33. "Tre nya ambassadörer" [Three new ambassadors] (Press release) (in Swedish). Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 14 August 2014. Archived from the original on 12 October 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
34. "Ny ambassadör i Demokratiska Folkrepubliken Korea" [New Ambassador to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea] (Press release) (in Swedish). Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
35. "Ny ambassadör i Demokratiska Folkrepubliken Korea" [New Ambassador to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea] (Press release) (in Swedish). Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
36. "Ny ambassadör i Nordkorea" [New ambassador in North Korea] (Press release) (in Swedish). Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2024.

External links

• Embassy of Sweden, Pyongyang (in Swedish and English)