German-North Korean relations

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German-North Korean relations
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Germany North Korea

The German-North Korean relations were since the founding of the DPRK from the different orientations of the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany affected. While the GDR cultivated bilateral relations with North Korea from the beginning , the Federal Republic only established diplomatic relations in 2001. Official visits by a delegation from the Federal Republic at ministerial level to North Korea have not yet taken place.

Germany is pursuing its interest in resuming the six-party talks and abandoning the North Korean nuclear weapons program , both in its own dialogue with North Korea and in the context of the common European foreign and security policy . Germany also criticizes the human rights situation in North Korea in particular .

history

Relations with the GDR

North Korean Embassy in East Berlin (1987)

The likewise socialist GDR was one of North Korea's closest allies in the Eastern Bloc. Diplomatic relations between the two states were initiated by a decision of the North Korean government on November 6, 1949, just under a month after the founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. However, the ambassadors were not accredited until after the Korean War in 1954. Up until the arrival of Ambassador Richard Fischer in Pyongyang, there were initially communication difficulties , as both the North Korean and German embassies in Beijing and the embassies in Moscow communicated with each other and both felt responsible for German-Korean affairs. The ambassador in Beijing Johannes König was therefore appointed as the official contact person and the North Korean Foreign Minister was informed of this in a letter dated July 13, 1951, which the latter confirmed on August 18. Nevertheless, North Korea commissioned its embassy in Warsaw to deal with bilateral affairs between the two states.

Visit of Kim II-sung to the GDR in 1984

The then Prime Minister of the GDR Otto Grotewohl traveled to the DPRK for the first time on a trip to Asia in December 1955. In the following year, the then ruler Kim Il-sung visited the GDR for the first time as part of an almost six-week trip through the Soviet Union and other Eastern European countries and asked for support there in the form of money and goods. Differences between the two states arose with the emergence of the personality cult around Kim Il-sung and the incipient de-Stalinization in the GDR.

Erich Honecker was named by Kim as "brother and best friend". During Honecker's first state visit to North Korea from December 8th to 11th, 1977, Kim pretended to welcome the existence of the two German states. The GDR and the DPRK, however, had different views on the reunification of their respective countries. While Kim Il-sung regarded Korean reunification as one of his most important goals and the DPRK as the only Korean state, the government of the GDR placed particular emphasis on recognition as an independent and independent state. During another state visit by Honecker in 1984, the two statesmen signed a friendship treaty to “strengthen unity between the socialist states”. At the end of May 1984, Kim Il-sung visited the GDR for the second and last time. Honecker paid a third state visit to the DPRK from October 18-21, 1986. In the period between 1984 and 1989, several agreements were also signed between the Ministry of National Defense and North Korea.

Aid

The Politburo of the SED decided on 15 August 1950 after the outbreak of the Korean War , one of the National Front led fundraiser for North Korea, under which the country by the year 1960 with a total of 122.7 million rubles, to 1962, with about 495, 35 million rubles (520.11 million marks), (the nominal wage of a Soviet industrial worker in 1960 was 89.9 rubles a month). This made the GDR the third most important partner of North Korea after the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China . The daily newspaper Neues Deutschland , the central organ of the SED, advertised the campaign with the slogan "Who helps Korea - helps Germany".

The GDR's aid included four agreements on the delivery of goods and the construction of various industrial plants (178 million rubles / 186.9 million marks), the education of 600 orphans (19 million rubles / 19.5 million marks) and 286 students (18 million rubles / 18.9 million marks), the reconstruction of the city of Hamhŭng, a solidarity committee (72 million rubles / 75.6 million marks), support from the German Red Cross (0.25 million rubles / 0.26 million marks) and a soil testing laboratory of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences (0.1 million rubles / 0.105 million marks). In addition, by 1957 she set up an automatic telephone exchange with 6000 lines in Pyongyang.

On June 25, 1952, the two states concluded an agreement on goods and payments, as well as one of the three auxiliary agreements on deliveries of goods worth 30 million rubles (31.5 million marks). Another aid agreement on deliveries of goods in the same volume was signed on November 14th that year. Deliveries of goods for the years 1954 to 1956 were regulated in an agreement signed in Berlin on October 6, 1953. The fourth aid agreement was worth 80 million rubles. In addition to the delivery of goods, it also included the construction of a diesel engine plant, a typographical combine and a Lepol system in a cement plant.

At the beginning, the GDR supported the country primarily with technical assistance in mining and mechanical engineering. North Korea also asked several times for support in the textile and clothing sector. For example, in a meeting between the North Korean Foreign Minister Nam Il and the GDR Ambassador Richard Fischer on May 25, 1956, at which Nam Il also asked for a loan, further help in the mining industry and, in particular, a shoe delivery.

Reception in honor of the Korean government delegation in the GDR in 1956. In a lively conversation v. l. To the right: the President of the German Academy of the Arts National Prize Winner Prof. Otto Nagel ; Prime Minister Otto Grotewohl and Kim Il-sung.

In 1956 a North Korean delegation went on a six-week trip to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and asked the communist states, including the GDR in June, for economic and financial help for the first five-year plan , to which the GDR only partially, namely in the form of 50 Million rubles for commodities, an agreement on economic and cultural cooperation and a joint declaration.

The GDR embassy was skeptical of the alleged successes of Kim Il-sung's annual plans to rebuild the North Korean economy due to a lack of data and uncheckable figures.

In November 1960 Otto Grotewohl announced in a letter to Kim Il-sung that he would have to limit the aid due to economic difficulties, which was met with understanding on the part of North Korea. A protocol was signed on September 18, 1962 when a delegation from the GDR was in Hamh zung for the inauguration of the bridge. This ended the material aid provided by the GDR since 1952.

Several workers from the GDR were awarded, among other things, the Order of the State Banner 2nd and 3rd class on October 4, 1983 in Pyongyang for building an automation device plant.

Korea Aid Committee

On September 9, 1950, the "Korea Aid Committee" was founded in the GDR. Its primary task was to collect donations and to organize the export of the aid goods acquired and produced for North Korea. These included medicines, utensils, machines and vehicles. In total, donations in kind amounting to 18 million marks and monetary donations amounting to 22 million marks were sent within the framework of committee activities. The money was used to finance, among other things, the construction of a polyclinic for skin and venereal diseases in Pyongyang, a tuberculosis outpatient clinic, and several schools and kindergartens.

The committee also promoted cultural exchange between the two states and provided information about North Korea. It consisted of members of the political parties , the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the GDR and the National Council . The Aid Committee particularly appealed to the population to be willing to donate. He also coordinated the delivery of goods that were produced in specially designated overtime and, for example, were provided by farmers from the agricultural production cooperative. Among other things, in September 1953, for example, the committee took over the freight costs for four tractors, a tractor seed drill, four sets of tractor harrows, plows and a truck that were donated by the Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany .

On November 11, 1954, the “Korea Aid Committee” was converted into the “Solidarity Committee for Korea and Vietnam” by a resolution of the National Council of the National Front, and from then on all services were divided between the two countries in a ratio of 1: 2.

As part of the cultural activities, the committee organized the tenth Gwangbokjeol in cooperation with the Society for Cultural Connections with Abroad , which was celebrated in two companies with special donations.

On October 1, 1957, the committee ended its activities.

German working group Hamhŭng

Established by the Hamhŭng working group

During the Korean War (1950–1953), the North Korean port city of Hamhŭng was destroyed by air strikes by US bombers to about 80–90 percent.

During a visit by the North Korean Foreign Minister in June 1954, the then GDR Prime Minister Otto Grotewohl promised to help him rebuild North Korea, whereupon North Korean President Kim Il-sung proposed a joint reconstruction project for the city of Hamhang as an industrial center.

The aid project was decided by the GDR on February 17, 1955. It consisted of town planners, architects, technical staff and craftsmen, who until 1962 took over the coordination of the reconstruction as the German Hamhŭng Working Group and built residential areas, industrial areas, theaters, schools, hotels, an outdoor swimming pool and hospitals. According to various sources, the GDR invested a total of 118 million GDR marks or 208 million rubles (218.4 million marks) in the project. The first building realized by the German working group Hamhŭng was a middle school for 1200 pupils, which was financed in 1956 by donations from the East German population. This school had a partnership with a Dresden school until the 1980s.

Economic relationships

The first trade agreement between the GDR and North Korea was concluded on March 3, 1955. In that year the DPRK exported goods to East Germany for the first time, mainly raw materials, mainly metals, and agricultural products. The GDR mainly supplied technology and machines. An exchange of goods worth 15.75 million marks each had been agreed. In fact, however, the GDR exported goods to the value of only 10.05 million and North Korea only to the value of 0.52 million. In the trade agreement concluded on February 25 for 1956, taking into account the deliveries of goods still due, an export volume of 21.9 million marks for Germany and 30.9 million marks for Korea was provided. Neither country was able to fully comply with this either. Towards the end of the year the GDR had a deficit of 5.88 million marks. North Korea was behind with 19.5 million marks. For this reason, the amount of the export agreement of the following trade agreement was again reduced, so that only 9.9 million for the GDR and 17.3 million for North Korea were agreed. These could not be complied with either.

Work by Korean students in the Deutzen opencast mine, 1958

The subject of the negotiations of the first protocol of the two states on the movement of goods and payments from 1958 to 1961, concluded on February 22, 1957, was, among other things, the question of the export of North Korean cigarettes, which the GDR strictly rejected because of sufficient in-house production. Nevertheless, North Korea was later able to enforce an agreement to export 90 tons of cigarettes. In a protocol for 1960, the GDR failed to enforce higher exports of metals and oil fruits from the DPRK, which North Korea rejected because of its own needs. For this reason and because of economic problems in the GDR after the termination of the interzonal trade agreement by the Federal Republic of Germany, the volume of trade between the two socialist states fell by around 50 percent. To support the GDR during this time, North Korea also delivered 400 kilograms of gold, two tons of silver and various non-ferrous metals. North Korea subsequently reduced the export of raw materials to the GDR in favor of an increased export of processed metal products.

Around 1963, the GDR rejected the import of supposedly inferior products such as hops and terry towels. North Korea recorded a delivery backlog of 5.9 million marks at the end of the year, including tobacco and cigarettes to the value of 4.4 million and silk products to the value of 1.5 million.

After North Korea's unsuccessful attempts to expand trade with non-communist states, Kim Il-sung announced in his 1967 ten-point program that he wanted to concentrate on expanding trade with other socialist countries, and for the first time entered into long-term trade agreements with the GDR . As a result, the bilateral trade volume between the two countries grew continuously until 1972. A Longer Term Payments Agreement and the 1969 Trade Agreement were signed in December 1968. The exchange of goods rose by around 50 percent compared to the previous year. While North Korea continued to show comparatively high export deficits vis-à-vis other communist trading partners, the country gradually reduced its delivery backlogs vis-à-vis the GDR and at the end of 1969 was able to record a positive balance vis-à-vis the GDR of 0.2 million marks for the first time. With the trade protocol for 1970 the trade volume should be massively expanded to 138 million. In the course of the 1970s it leveled off at 100 to 150 million marks. North Korea was able to expand its positive total balance to 20 million by August 1970, whereby it remained behind with individual items such as the delivery of magnesite clinkers and thus impaired production processes in the GDR. North Korea's request to deliver a further 19,500 kilometers in addition to the agreed 7,500 kilometers of black-and-white films was not met by the GDR. Further negotiations on future economic relations took place in November of that year between the State Planning Commission and the North Korean Foreign Economic Relations Committee.

The delegation of the Association of Socialist Youth of Work of Korea visits the LPG vegetable production facility in Böhlitz-Ehrenberg.

Since North Korea again found it difficult to fulfill its export commitments in the following years and did not fully comply with agreed loan repayments through the delivery of raw materials, it recorded export deficits of 65 million marks in 1972. The two states then founded the Advisory Committee on Economic and Scientific and Technical Questions in 1973 to control and improve bilateral trade relations. By 1975 the DPRK was able to work on its export deficits and temporarily meet its contractually agreed deliveries. At the beginning of the 1980s, North Korea was behind, especially in the delivery of non-ferrous metal semi-finished products, and did not fully meet its obligations in the following years either. While North Korea has so far mainly imported machines for the metalworking industry, the demand for chemical products increased in the mid-1980s.

The GDR, on the other hand, endeavored to purchase significantly larger quantities of agar and to reduce imports from Spain and Japan accordingly. With the exchange of 50 trucks from East Germany and gold and silver jewelry from North Korea, the two countries agreed on a compensation deal for the first time . The trade agreement of November 1985 was long-term for the years 1986 to 1990. It was supposed to increase trade in 1990 by ten percent compared to 1985. Following a decision at the 9th session of the Advisory Committee in 1986, a joint working group on light industry was set up.

Since North Korea concentrated its resources on hosting the 13th World Festival of Young People and Students , several production facilities went idle due to inadequate energy supplies and the agricultural economy suffered from storms, North Korea only fulfilled about half of its export commitments to its socialist trading partners in 1986, which was achieved in 1986 The following year also changed only slightly. In addition to the delivery of goods, the protocol from 1987 also included GDR production licenses for bipolar circuits and machine tools.

At the initiative of the Advisory Committee, an agreement was reached on the joint production of work clothing, in which production in North Korea with cotton from the GDR was planned. However, North Korea was unable to meet the quality standards of its partner, which in May 1988 led to an end to clothing exports. One hundred Korean textile workers were trained for two years in the GDR from April of that year, among other things to improve quality. In addition, since May 1987 the GDR has trained around 200 Korean workers in machine tool construction.

Postage stamp from the GDR

In 1989, on the occasion of the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students taking place in Pyongyang, a stamp was issued in the GDR, on which the Ch'ŏllima statue and the Great Study Hall of the People are depicted.

Lending

The GDR granted North Korea several loans in the 1950s. The use of the allocated funds was contractually bound to the investment in GDR products. The delivery of non-ferrous metals from Korea was agreed as repayment.

In the early 1960s, the GDR stopped lending for a few years because of economic problems in its own country. After an agreement was signed on February 5, 1966, another loan was granted, this time for 59 million marks with a term of seven years and an interest rate of three percent. Among other things, it included the delivery of equipment for mining. However, parts of the agreed deliveries were canceled again by the GDR or could only be delivered in 1973.

During a visit by a North Korean delegation in April 1967, the GDR was again asked to grant a loan. The requested sum amounted to 165 million marks and should include the delivery of equipment for a cement factory, a paper factory and spinning machines. Most recently, on November 4, 1968, a loan with a term of seven years and an interest rate of 2.5 percent in the amount of 88 million marks was agreed for the delivery of the spinning machines. The equipment for the cement factory was obtained from Poland. To deliver the funds to build a paper mill, the GDR would have had to obtain up to half of the necessary components in exchange for foreign currency from Western countries. 30–50 percent of the loan repayment was to be made in tobacco, 20–30 percent in non-ferrous metals, 10–20 percent in unspecified deliveries of goods and 10–20 percent in other agricultural products. Another loan agreement with a volume of 82 million marks and a term of ten years and an interest rate of two percent included deliveries for the colorful metallurgical combine Namp'o . In 1972, the GDR had largely met its deliveries. North Korea, on the other hand, was about ten million marks behind with the delivery of electrolytic zinc, fine silver and alloyed tool steels. In November 1972, Kim Il-sung asked the chairman of the Council of Ministers Willi Stroph for a further loan for spinning and mining plants. The credit, estimated at 165 million marks according to GDR estimates, was refused in a letter dated March 9, 1973, with reference to the outstanding payments from North Korea. Instead, North Korea was promised a loan of 55 million marks for the delivery of an ore processing plant and a deferral of the outstanding repayments was offered, which a North Korean delegation had asked for in October. In addition, in 1976 the GDR agreed to further deferrals for repayments from 1977 to 1979.

Scientific and technical cooperation

On January 27, 1955, the two countries concluded an agreement for scientific and technical cooperation and set the relevant goals at a meeting in 1956. In it, the GDR promised technical support for the reconstruction of mining and smelting operations and the restarting of chemical plants in North Korea and awarded internships in Germany. By 1963 a total of 125 agreements on technical and scientific cooperation had been made. Including 110 in the interest of North Korea and 15 in the interest of the GDR.

Posting North Korean children and students to the GDR

Arrival of North Korean guest students in Berlin in 1953

Between 1952 and 1956, 600 North Korean orphans (including around 80 percent boys) and 357 students (less than ten percent of them girls and women) were sent to the GDR, who were trained in 46 different professions and natural sciences at the expense of the GDR. They made up 37 percent of the foreign students there.

In August 1957, the North Korean embassy in Berlin imposed an East Berlin ban on all North Koreans living in East Germany in order to prevent attempts to escape to the West. Nevertheless, eleven Koreans managed to escape in 1958.

Some North Korean students did not come from working-class or peasant families, as they had incorrectly stated in their applications for a place at university in the GDR. This information was first verified by the North Korean government after the Korean War in 1958. About a third of the students did not return to the GDR after a vacation trip to North Korea.

With a student agreement from 1959, North Korea was obliged to pay for the travel and accommodation of the students. As a result, the number of foreign students fell. With the Sino-Soviet rift in 1962, the North Korean government ordered all of its foreign nationals, with the exception of those in China and Albania , to return home. The universities then carried out some spontaneous exams in order to be able to hand over the diploma to students in higher semesters early. The repatriation also affected North Koreans who had meanwhile married in the GDR and started a family. An integration of the North Koreans as well as binational relationships or marriages were possible, but undesirable both by the government of the GDR and the North Koreans, which led to broken contacts and separations of young families, especially after the repatriation of the North Koreans. Some women went to North Korea with their husbands, while other couples, including 20 North Korean students, fled to West Berlin or the Federal Republic. According to the final report, the returnees in North Korea were "often assigned to high positions of responsibility". Around 25 to 30 children are said to have been born in the German-North Korean families.

During the fall of the Wall , around 200 North Koreans studied in the GDR. They were brought to their home country in November 1989, ostensibly for further training. After German reunification , the Pyongyang government again sent some students to Germany for technical training.

Development after the fall of the Wall

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, North Koreans sent from the GDR and other socialist countries were called back to North Korea by Kim Il-sung. Erich Honecker was offered asylum by Kim for "humanitarian reasons" .

After the fall of the Wall , the previous premises of the GDR embassy in Pyongyang were initially converted into a permanent representation of the Federal Republic in 1991 . The Kingdom of Sweden initially acted as a protecting power until regular diplomatic relations between Germany and North Korea were established in 2001.

In the premises of the former North Korean embassy in East Berlin , an “Office for the Protection of the Interests of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea” was set up under the protection of the People's Republic of China .

Establishment and development of diplomatic relations with the Federal Republic

German Embassy in Pyongyang

In October 2000, then Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer announced the decision to establish diplomatic relations with North Korea. At the same time, the announced expulsion of the German doctor Norbert Vollertsen , who worked for the aid organization Cap Anamur / German emergency doctors in North Korea, caused irritation. On a trip to Asia in South Korea, Fischer also stated that Germany wanted to support the process of rapprochement between North and South Korea (see also Korean reunification ) . Japan and South Korea, both of which have strained relations with North Korea, said they were positive about Fischer's announcement.

On March 1, 2001, the Federal Republic of Germany first established diplomatic relations with North Korea. The permanent representation of the Federal Republic in Pyongyang was converted into an embassy on the same day . After Great Britain, Germany was the second state within the European Union to enter into a bilateral exchange with North Korea. During the four-day negotiations, the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, progress in the inter-Korean dialogue and an improvement in the human rights situation in North Korea were agreed as goals of the diplomatic contacts. There was also talk of the freedom of movement of diplomats and representatives of aid organizations in North Korea, as well as the exchange of journalists.

On December 19, 2008, the German Bundestag unanimously passed the resolution entitled "Dynamically developing German-Korean relations", which was adopted by the CDU / CSU , SPD , FDP and Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the Establishment of official relations was introduced.

The launch of a North Korean long-range missile in April 2012 was viewed by the federal government as a “clear provocation” and sharply condemned. After North Korea announced at the beginning of December of the same year that it wanted to test a launch vehicle for satellites again that month, the German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle appointed the North Korean ambassador to the Foreign Office to expressly convey the negative attitude towards the project.

When the Korean conflict intensified in 2013 , Guido Westerwelle summoned the North Korean ambassador to Berlin to convey his concerns about the conflict. On the same day, North Korea recommended, along with other states, that the Federal Republic of Germany should vacate its embassy in Pyongyang, since it could no longer guarantee its security in the event of an escalation from April 10th. However, Germany announced that it initially did not want to withdraw its eight diplomats in North Korea. In addition, about 20 tourists and twelve employees of humanitarian organizations were in North Korea at the time.

Government delegations and parliamentary exchanges

In 1981 a North Korean delegation visited the Federal Republic of Germany for the first time under the direction of Kim Yŏng-nam .

In addition, there have been several official visits by members of the German Bundestag to North Korea. In May 2010, for example, the deputy chairman of the SPD parliamentary group, Ulrich Kelber (SPD), went on a business trip to North Korea. The only visit at ministerial level so far has been made by Minister of Sport Pak Myong-chol , who traveled to Germany in June 2011 for the opening match of the Women's World Cup . In the run-up to the same World Cup, a larger German delegation with 30 people traveled to North Korea for the first time, including Claudia Roth (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen), DFB President Theo Zwanziger , Thomas Feist (CDU), Katrin Kunert (Die Linke) and Patrick Kurth (FDP ). The trip took place against the will of the German Foreign Office . During the visit, there had been a conflict within the delegation about the visit to the Kumsusan Palace , the mausoleum of Kim Il-sung, which Feist and Kurth refused to accept .

The Bundestag member Thomas Lutze (Die Linke), member of the tourism committee and the German-Korean parliamentary group , also traveled to North Korea in 2011 for an exchange in the areas of tourism and transport. On November 9th of the same year, Bundestag Vice President Hermann Otto Solms received the chairman of the Korean-German parliamentary group of the Supreme People's Assembly, Ri Jong-hyok, with a delegation for a discussion.

Repeated chairman of the German-Korean parliamentary group: Hartmut Koschyk

During a visit in 2012, members of the German-Korean parliamentary group and its chairman Stefan Müller (CSU) traveled to North and South Korea for four days each to hold talks with representatives of the 12th Supreme People's Assembly .

Another delegation trip of the German-Korean parliamentary group took place in 2014. This time the chairman was Hartmut Koschyk (CSU), the chairman of the committee responsible for Europe and Germany of the Supreme People's Assembly Ri Jong-hyok, the President of the Supreme People's Assembly Chae Thae-bok , the North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Ri Kil-song , the deputy head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the North Korean Labor Party Ri Yong-chol and the German Ambassador to North Korea Thomas Schäfer . Topics discussed included on the inter-Korean relations, "dynamic further develop the German-Korean relations," the resolution of the German Bundestag of 25 June, 2013, which also includes a passage to Germany's relations with North Korea and loud Koschyk for the 18th legislative period , the the parliamentary basis for the further development of Germany's relations with North Korea and support for the Pyongyang zoo, which was expressed by the North Korean ambassador to Germany Si Hong-ri . The members of the German-Korean parliamentary group declared that they would like to support a possible cooperation with a zoological institution in Germany if necessary. The program included a visit to the German faculty of the Kim Il-sung University and the Jangchung Church , as well as visits to cooperation projects of German foundations and aid organizations in the agricultural, environmental, energy and social sectors and tourism, children and leisure - and health facilities.

Controversy over the US feature film "The Interview"

The US feature film The Interview was released in Germany on February 5, 2015 . The film is about a murder plot by the CIA against North Korea's head of state Kim Jong-un and had already led to diplomatic entanglements between North Korea and the United States. The opening of the Berlin film festival Berlinale was also planned for February 5th . In North Korea, the misunderstanding arose that the film should be shown at the Berlinale, whereupon the North Korean Foreign Ministry threatened the film festival with “merciless punishment” if it were broadcast. The director of the film festival Dieter Kosslick met the North Korean ambassador Si Hong-ri the following day for a clarification discussion.

Education and culture

Well-known German foreign students at Kim Il-sung University in Pyongyang were the economist and East Asian scholar Rüdiger Frank and the Koreanist Helga Picht . Due to the UN sanctions regime, Germany does not accept North Korean engineers and scientists. From the 1990s, German students or researchers were no longer allowed to study in North Korea some time after the fall of the Wall. There is therefore only limited scientific exchange between the two countries. However, there is a program for training German-speaking doctors from North Korea in German hospitals. In addition, 16 North Korean scientists and lecturers from Pyongyang started a two-year training course on "Food security in organic farming" in Witzenhausen as part of an EU project launched in 2011 . Armin Herdegen, sent by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) , is the only German lecturer to teach German at the Kim Il-sung University in Pyongyang. The DAAD has provided a German chair since 2001. The cooperation with the exchange service made it possible for two German scientists and university professors to stay in North Korea and 13 North Koreans to study in Germany.

North Korean musicians regularly take part in the Bayreuth Easter Festival . In November 2012, the Goethe-Institut initiated a musical joint project with the Munich Chamber Orchestra and students from the Kim Won Gyun University of Music in Pyongyang under the direction of the conductor Alexander Liebreich . In autumn 2003 he was a visiting professor at the University of Music and Dance in Pyongyang through the German Academic Exchange Service .

The activity of foreign organizations in North Korea is linked to a partnership with a government institution. Four German party-affiliated foundations are in closer dialogue with North Korea. They all have offices in South Korea and maintain regular contact with North Korea:

Goethe Information Center Pyongyang

In 2001, the Goethe-Institut came into contact with the North Korean authorities through the family of the German composer of Korean descent Yun I-sang . Yun I-sang is popular in North Korea, which is why Uwe Schmelter asked his family to mediate. After nine months of negotiations, the institute was the first western cultural institution in North Korea to open a reading room in the Chollima House of Culture in Pyongyang in early June 2004. The aim was to set up a "agency for German scientific and technical literature in the Goethe Information Center Pyongyang". About 8000 media were made available on an area of ​​over one hundred square meters, including books, current press, video cassettes and DVDs with a focus on scientific and technical topics. According to the contractual agreements, half of the collection consisted of specialist and textbooks at the request of North Korea, the other half could be freely chosen by the Goethe-Institut and consisted of daily newspapers and novels as well as works on German culture, history and society. Another part of the contract was the announcement of the facility in the country and the free and uncensored access of interested sections of the population. North Korea provided the staff and the premises. The institute was first visited by around 60–100 readers a day, and later by around 30–40 readers, and was considered a remarkable step towards opening up the country.

In the summer of 2006, the display of newspapers and magazines such as the Süddeutsche Zeitung and the Spiegel was banned after a Japanese newspaper reported that media reporting critical of North Korea were displayed in the reading room. Following a decision by the Goethe Institute in the summer of 2009, the information center was closed in November of the same year and future cooperation with North Korea was limited to the film sector, as the institute saw the contractual conditions for free and uncensored access violated. Right from the start, only cadres loyal to the party were given access.

Film and cinema

From November 4 to 8, 2013 , the Taedongmun cinema hosted the first German Film Week in North Korea at which the four German productions Das Wunder von Bern , Goethe! , Almanya - Willkommen in Deutschland and The very big dream were shown.

Relations between the Protestant churches in both countries

There has been a regular exchange between German and North Korean Christians since 1989 , when North Koreans took part in the Kirchentag in Berlin. On the German side, the Evangelical Church in Germany  (EKD) is in charge. North Korean Evangelical Christians are represented by their state organization, the Korean Christian Federation  (KCF). As part of this exchange, North Korean Christians visited in 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2004. Representatives of the EKD visited North Korea in 2004, 2005 and most recently in 2009. At that time, an EKD delegation headed by Bishop Wolfgang Huber , then Chairman of the EKD Council, visited North and South Korea.

Development Assistance

In the field of development aid, several German organizations are active in North Korea and carry out aid projects in various areas with funds from Germany and the European Union.

The humanitarian aid by Germany was terminated in 2006 by the North Korean government, however, as " development-oriented emergency and transitional aid continued" on the European Union. From 1997 to 2011 the federal government spent a total of around 32 million euros on such measures. Between 2009 and 2011, funds amounting to a good three million euros were made available for food security, which benefited projects of the German Red Cross , Caritas and German World Hunger Aid. Deutsche Welthungerhilfe has been active in North Korea since 1997 and until 2010 had implemented humanitarian aid and development cooperation projects worth 55 million euros, which were financed by both taxpayers' money and donations. Development aid worker Karl Fall , who has been project manager for Welthungerhilfe in North Korea since 2003 , was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2011 for his commitment .

In 2008 the association together - education center for deaf, blind and non-disabled children Hamhung was founded in Berlin . Among other things, he organizes vocational and advanced training measures for children and successfully exerted influence on the North Korean government, which in Helsinki in 2012 approved the “Momorandum of Underständig” of the World Federation of the Deaf and the Korean Association for the Protection of the Disabled .

economy and trade

There is no agreement on economic, financial or scientific-technological cooperation between the Federal Republic of Germany and North Korea. Accordingly, the mutual economic relationships are relatively weak. However, as part of efforts to open up the economy that Kim Jong-un had announced at the beginning of 2013, the country is said to have consulted with German economists and lawyers.

Train of the Berlin U-Bahn in the Pyongyang Metro

The Pyongyang Metro uses former trains of the Berlin U-Bahn . The Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe sold 120 type GI ("Gisela") double railcars from the former East Berlin to North Korea in 1996 and 105 type D ("Dora") double railcars from the former West Berlin in 1998 and 1999 .

In 2011, trade between the Federal Republic of Germany and North Korea totaled only 42.5 million euros. North Korea was thus in 155th place in the ranking of trading partners in the Federal Republic's foreign trade. Imports to Germany had a value of 30 million euros (133rd place), while exports totaled 12.4 million euros (174th place). In previous years, the exchange of goods between the two countries was not much larger. However, there were some other contacts between the two countries at company level.

From 2003 to mid-2010, the Berlin- based company Korea Computer Center Europe (KCCE), as an offshoot of the North Korean Korea Computer Center, had an exclusive contract for the construction, installation and commercial use of the Internet in North Korea. Among other things, the company hosted the North Korean top-level domain .kp and the few pages that were operated under this TLD at the time. In mid-2010, KCCE ceased operations and some time later the TLD .kp was transferred to the Thai-North Korean Star joint venture.

1: 1 clay model of the Frankfurt fairy tale fountain in the Mansudae art studio in Pyongyang, November 2005

In 2005, the city ​​of Frankfurt am Main had the bronze figures of the Frankfurt Fairy Tale Fountain renovated by the North Korean company Mansudae Overseas Projects , which belongs to the Mansudae art studio . The decision for the company was made on the one hand because of the inexpensive and at the same time relatively rare competence in the reconstruction of such figures. On the other hand, there was hope of being able to win North Korea over to the Frankfurt Book Fair .

In 2007, the German Prettl group was the first German company to start building a production facility in the Kaesŏng special economic zone . However, after the sinking of the South Korean frigate Cheonan , the company decided to stop building the factory and sell the factory space.

The German-North Korean joint venture Nosotek was founded in 2008 . North Korean IT specialists program software for the international market in the company.

According to a report by the expert panel on the review of the United Nations sanctions against North Korea from 2010, the German Commerzbank and the Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (Helaba) had business relationships with North Korean banks at that time . According to the report, Helaba had a business relationship with Koryo Commercial Bank. Commerzbank had connections with the Korea United Development Bank and the Amroggang Development Bank. Since the end of 2011 this has been subject to the sanctions regime of the European Union against North Korea.

The fashion company Gerry Weber had production in North Korea until 2011 . The location was given up because the company saw no possibility at the North Korean manufacturer of "achieving an improvement process with regard to social and qualitative standards".

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : German-North Korean Relations  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Information on political relations on the website of the Federal Foreign Office
  2. ^ Wolfgang Konschel : The GDR was an internationally respected state , colloquium 60 years of founding the GDR
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h Liana Kang-Schmitz: North Korea's handling of dependency and security risk - using the example of bilateral relations with the GDR. (PDF; 1.5 MB) In: ubt.opus.hbz-nrw.de. Retrieved June 9, 2015 .
  4. ↑ a b c "Solidarity Trains" to North Korea ( Memento from January 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). In: The Parliament. No. 23/2010.
  5. ↑ a b North Korea: Good Neighbors , Die Zeit of November 13, 1981.
  6. ↑ Federal Archives, Military Archives ( Memento of the original from January 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kommunarts.homepage.t-online.de
  7. ↑ a b c Liana Kang-Schmitz: North Korea's Dealing with Dependency and Security Risks - Using the Example of Bilateral Relations with the GDR (PDF; 1.5 MB). P. 128 ff.
  8. ↑ Manfred Hildermeier: History of the Soviet Union, 1917–1991: emergence and decline of the first socialist state. CH Beck, 1998, page 12
  9. ↑ Bernd Bonwetsch, Matthias Uhl: Korea - a forgotten war ?: The military conflict on the Korean peninsula 1950–1953 in an international context. Oldenbourg Verlag, October 24, 2012, page 110
  10. ↑ KDVR awards given to GDR citizens , Neues Deutschland from October 6, 1983.
  11. ^ Propaganda pamphlet of the Korea Aid Committee of the GDR
  12. ↑ a b c The Last City of the GDR Focus from November 7, 2005.
  13. ↑ Christoph Kleßmann , Bernd Stöver : The Korean War: Perception, Effect, Memory , 2008, ISBN 978-3-412-20178-4 , pp. 145 f.
  14. ^ A b c The first German proxy war Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of June 11, 2010.
  15. ↑ Christoph Kleßmann , Bernd Stöver : The Korean War: Perception, Effect, Memory , 2008, ISBN 978-3-412-20178-4 , p. 215.
  16. ↑ a b Liana Kang-Schmitz: North Korea's handling of dependency and security risk - using the example of bilateral relations with the GDR (PDF; 1.5 MB). P. 82 ff.
  17. ^ Liana Kang-Schmitz: North Korea's Dealing with Dependency and Security Risk - Using the Example of Bilateral Relations with the GDR (PDF; 1.5 MB). P. 131 ff.
  18. ^ Liana Kang-Schmitz: North Korea's Dealing with Dependency and Security Risk - Using the Example of Bilateral Relations with the GDR (PDF; 1.5 MB). P. 135 ff.
  19. ↑ a b c d e f g researcher on North Korea and GDR , interview with Liana Kang-Schmitz in Taz from March 3, 2013.
  20. ↑ a b Christoph Kleßmann , Bernd Stöver: The Korean War: Perception, Effect, Memory. 2008, ISBN 978-3-412-20178-4 , p. 150 f.
  21. ↑ 2009 Shared.Divided.United ( Memento of the original from October 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. korientation.de @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / korientation.de
  22. ↑ Four and a half decades of hopeless love, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of November 23, 2006.
  23. ↑ a b Addresses of the German diplomatic missions abroad (PDF; 542 kB)
  24. ↑ a b Fischer: The time has come. Germany establishes diplomatic relations with North Korea on rp-online from October 31, 2000.
  25. ↑ Germany wants to support the rapprochement process in a divided Korea Handelsblatt dated November 1, 2000.
  26. ↑ Kim supports relations between Germany and North Korea Hamburger Morgenpost of October 20, 2000.
  27. ^ Diplomatic relations established, new step in the relationship between Germany and North Korea n-tv of March 1, 2001.
  28. ↑ Bundestag adopts Korea resolution ( memento of the original from January 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , German-Korean Society  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / korea-dkg.de
  29. ↑ The rocket launch is a clear provocation ( memento of the original from October 26, 2012) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Federal Government of April 13, 2012.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bundesregierung.de
  30. ↑ Planned rocket launch: Westerwelle calls in North Korea's ambassador. In: Spiegel Online. December 3, 2012, accessed June 9, 2015 .
  31. ↑ Germany should vacate the embassy , FAZ from April 5, 2013.
  32. ↑ Germany's diplomats stay in North Korea , Märkische Oderzeitung from April 6, 2013.
  33. ↑ Ulrich Kelber's travel report (PDF; 711 kB)
  34. ↑ Claudia Roth's travel report ( Memento of the original from January 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 121 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.claudia-roth.de
  35. ^ Football diplomacy in North Korea , rp-online from April 5, 2011.
  36. ↑ Left-wing MP in North Korea: "This is all now for the cat". In: Spiegel Online. November 29, 2010, accessed June 9, 2015 .
  37. ↑ Bundestag Vice President Solms receives North Korean MPs ( Memento of the original from January 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Press release of the German Bundestag from November 9, 2011. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bundestag.de
  38. ^ German MPs on the move in North Korea , ntv October 18, 2012.
  39. ↑ Koschyk: Germany can at best be an “honest advisor”, but not an agent on the Korean peninsula  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Hartmut Koschyk@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.koschyk.de  
  40. ↑ Ambassador of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Si Hong Ri, receives members of the German-Korean parliamentary group , Hartmut Koschyk
  41. ↑ US, Germany Urged to Give Up at Once Screening of Anti-DPRK Movie: DPRK FM Spokesman ( Memento of the original from January 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , KCNA of January 21, 2015 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kcna.co.jp
  42. ↑ North Korea threatens the Berlinale ( memento of the original from January 28, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rbb-online.de archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , rbb of January 23, 2015
  43. ↑ Small sensation - North Korean scientists begin training in organic farming in Witzenhausen
  44. ^ Jeannette Goddar: Study in North Korea: Warm care from the "Great Leader". In: Spiegel Online. November 21, 2007, accessed June 9, 2015 .
  45. ↑ Country Information North Korea , German Academic Exchange Service
  46. ↑ Hartmut Koschyk : The contribution of Germany and the EU to stability in Northeast Asia , speech on the occasion of the dragon boat dinner of the Taiwan Freundeskreis Bambusrunde e. V. on August 31, 2011.
  47. ^ North Korea: The Munich Chamber Orchestra in Pyongyang
  48. ↑ What the Hanns Seidel Foundation of the CSU is doing in North Korea , Wirtschaftswoche from June 23, 2012.
  49. ↑ a b Christiane Wolters: Goethe Institute in North Korea: Music as "Open Sesame". In: Spiegel Online. May 12, 2004, accessed June 9, 2015 .
  50. ↑ a b c Goethe-Institut closes reading room , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of November 25, 2009.
  51. ^ North Korea: Goethe-Institut closes reading room in Pyongyang. Tagesspiegel, November 26, 2009, accessed June 9, 2015 .
  52. ^ First German Film Week in North Korea. In: goethe.de. Retrieved January 4, 2016 .
  53. ↑ Are there Christian churches in North Korea? ( Memento of the original from July 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , EKD: Communication from ecumenism and work abroad 2005.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ekd.de
  54. ^ EKD delegation in North Korea , EKD press release, September 14, 2009.
  55. ^ "Information according to the Freedom of Information Act (IFG) on humanitarian aid in North Korea, your request for information from August 2, 2011" Ask the state, September 1, 2011.
  56. ↑ Germany's humanitarian aid to North Korea 1997–2011 (PDF; 73 kB) EDRIS Results.
  57. ↑ Deutsche Welthungerhilfe at presseportal.de
  58. ↑ North Korea: "Sanctions only strengthen the regime". In: Spiegel Online. January 17, 2010, accessed June 9, 2015 .
  59. ↑ Federal Cross of Merit : Announcement of the awards from July 1, 2011
  60. ↑ Christoph Moeskes: North Korea: insights into an enigmatic country. 2011, ISBN 978-3-86284-063-2 .
  61. ^ "Master plan" with the help of German scientists North Korea is preparing to open up the economy soon , FAZ from January 4, 2013.
  62. ^ Berlin U-Bahn in Pyongyang , Berliner Zeitung of August 11, 2007.
  63. ↑ "Ranking of trading partners in foreign trade in the Federal Republic of Germany (with sales and balance)" ( Memento of the original from November 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Federal Statistical Office, October 30, 2012.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.destatis.de
  64. ^ "The axis of money" In: Der Tagesspiegel of December 27, 2003.
  65. ^ "North Korea's Internet Domain Is in New Hands," PC World, May 15, 2011.
  66. ↑ "Question of December 13, 2005, F 1514" (PDF; 35 kB) , minutes of the current hour of the Frankfurt city council on December 13, 2005.
  67. ↑ request of the CDU / CSU, SPD, FDP and Alliance 90 / The Greens: The German-Korean relations continue to develop dynamically (PDF, 72 kB), printed matter 16/11451.
  68. ↑ Prettl produces Handelsblatt in North Korea on November 2, 2007.
  69. ↑ Economic Circular Korea of ​​the German-Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry 19/2010 ( Memento of the original from May 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 153 kB) from May 20, 2010.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / korea.ahk.de
  70. ↑ Sandra Schulz: German entrepreneur in Pyongyang: "Mom is always afraid that I will be arrested". In: Spiegel Online. December 21, 2011, accessed June 9, 2015 .
  71. ↑ nostek.com
  72. ↑ "Report of the Expert Panel on the Review of the UN Sanctions against North Korea: Interesting and Important" North Korea Info
  73. ↑ Old friends: Pak To-chun and Amroggang Development Banking Corporation on the EU's new sanctions list . North Korea info
  74. ^ Maria Marquart: Communists as trading partners: The strange North Korea list of the German economy. In: Spiegel Online. January 11, 2013, accessed June 9, 2015 .