Ghana–North Korea relations

Ghana–North Korea relations
Envoy
N/A	North Korean ambassador to Ghana Kil Mun-yong

GhanaandNorth Koreaestablisheddiplomatic relationsin 1964.

Even before diplomatic relations were established, Ghana had campaigned, along with other African nations, for recognition of North Korea as an observer in theUnited Nations(UN). Trade relations between the two countries preceded diplomatic relations. North Korea's leaderKim Il Sungshared much in common politically with Ghana'sKwame Nkrumah.After Nkrumah was ousted, North Korea ended up in a diplomatic spat with Ghana, which accused it of training anti-government rebels. By the late-1960s, North Korea was again supporting Ghana as an anti-imperialist force in Africa. In the 1980s, Ghana'sProvisional National Defence Councilsuccessfully sought aid from North Korea and other socialist countries in order to be more independent from Western powers.

There was a North Korean embassy in Ghana until it was closed down in 1998. The current North Koreanambassadorto Ghana is Kil Mun-yong. Trade between the two countries consists mainly of North Korean exports ofcementand Ghanaian cocoa,gemstones,andpearls.There is a Korea–Ghana Friendship Association for cultural exchange.^[1]

History

Kim Il SungandKwame Nkrumah

In the aftermath of theKorean War,South Koreawas granted observer status in theUnited Nations(UN), butNorth Koreawas not. From the late-1950s to the 1980s a block ofThird Worldcountries, includingGhanarallied to condemn the one-sided recognition.^[2]In 1973, North Korea was admitted to the UN as an observer.^[3]

A tour by North Korean officials to sign trade deals with several West African countries, including Ghana, took place in the summer of 1961.^[4]This was before the establishment of formal relations on an ambassadorial level, which happened on 28 December 1964.^[5]^[6]

In the 1960s, North Korea's isolationist policies were viewed favorably in Ghana that professed a similar stance.^[7]Kim Il Sung,theleader of North Korea,shared much in common politically withKwame Nkrumahof Ghana,^[8]although the latter never went quite as far in terms of state control over the economy, society, and culture of his country.^[9]In July 1966,^[10]after the Nkrumah administration had been overthrown,^[11]Ghana temporarily terminated relations with North Korea when it uncovered that North Korea was training anti-government guerrillas in Ghana.^[10]Similar diplomatic incidents involving North Korea took place in other African countries as well with comparable results.^[12]

By 1968, North Korea again voiced support for Ghana. In July, Kim Il Sung launched a slogan: "Cutting off the Limbs of U.S. Imperialism Everywhere" in an effort to establish himself as a leader of the world communist movement. Kim envisioned that Latin American countries could cut off one "arm" of the United States, while African countries such as Ghana would sever the other one.^[13]

In 1983, North Korea initiated an agricultural project in Ghana as foreign aid. Around that time, Ghana'sProvisional National Defence Councilwas actively seeking for aid from socialist countries in order to diminish its dependence on Western powers.^[14]An agreement oncultural exchangewas signed for 1993–1995.^[15]

When Ghana established full diplomatic relations withSouth Koreain 1977,^[16]it became one of a limited number of countries that have relations with both North andSouth Korea.^[14]

There was a North Korean embassy in Ghana until it was closed down in 1998.^[17]The North Korean ambassador to Ghana since January 2001 is Kil Mun-yong.^[18]^[19]

In 2006, Ghana voted as a non-permanent member of theUnited Nations Security Councilin favor of itsResolution 1718which imposedsanctions against North Korea.^[20]In 2018, Ghana expressed its support for the political process to improve relations between North and South Korea in the midst of the2017–18 North Korea crisis.^[21]

Trade

Ghana has mostly run a deficit in its trade with North Korea, meaning that Ghana is a source of foreign currencies to North Korea. In 2015, North Korea was Ghana's 77th biggest trade partner with $6.8 million in trade.^[22]Ghana imports mostlycementfrom North Korea. It exports mainly cocoa,gemstones,andpearls,^[23]but alsoprecious metals.^[24]

References

^North Korea Handbook2002,p. 817.
^Armstrong 2013,p. 223.
^Armstrong 2013,p. 257.
^Armstrong 2013,p. 144.
^Wertz, Oh & Kim 2016,p. 3.
^"Africa".The People's Korea.Archived fromthe originalon 3 May 2015.
^Schaefer 2009,p. 119.
^Smith, Hazel (2015).North Korea: Markets and Military Rule.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 90.ISBN 978-1-316-23964-3.
^Szalontai, Balázs (2005).Kim Il Sung in the Khrushchev Era: Soviet-DPRK Relations and the Roots of North Korean Despotism, 1953-1964.Stanford: Stanford University Press. pp. 212, 212n8.ISBN 978-0-8047-5322-7.
^^a ^bSome Facts about North Korea.Seoul: Naewoe Press. 1984. p. 38.OCLC 603996576.
^Owusu-Ansah, David (2014).Historical Dictionary of Ghana(4th ed.). London: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 240.ISBN 978-0-8108-7500-5.
^Korea Observer.Vol. 1. Seoul:Academy of Korean Studies.1979. p. 71.OCLC 906336418.
^Cha, Victor (2013).The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future.London: Vintage. pp. 47–48.ISBN 978-0-099-57865-9.
^^a ^bBobiash, Donald (1992).South-South Aid: How Developing Countries Help Each Other.Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 93.ISBN 978-1-349-11623-2.
^Vantage Point.Vol. 16. Seoul: Naewoe Press. 1993. p. 30.OCLC 29800060.
^Daily Report: East Asia, Issue 1, Part 15.The Service. January 4, 1993. p. 30.
^Wertz, Oh & Kim 2016,p. 6n20.
^Africa South of the Sahara 2004.London: Europa. 2003. p. 494.ISBN 978-1-85743-183-4.
^North Korea Handbook2002,p. 532.
^DuPre, Kasprzyk & Stot 2016,p. 48.
^"Ghana Supports Diplomatic Steps To Solve Issues Of North And South Korea".Modern Ghana.GNA. 24 April 2018.Retrieved13 June2018.
^DuPre, Kasprzyk & Stot 2016,p. 31.
^DuPre, Kasprzyk & Stot 2016,p. 32.
^DuPre, Kasprzyk & Stot 2016,Table 5.

Works cited

Armstrong, Charles K. (2013).Tyranny of the Weak: North Korea and the World, 1950–1992.Ithaca: Cornell University Press.ISBN 978-0-8014-6893-3.
DuPre, Annie; Kasprzyk, Nicolas; Stot, Noël (2016).Cooperation between African states and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea(PDF).Institute for Security Studies.
North Korea Handbook.Yonhap News Agency: Seoul. 2002.ISBN 978-0-7656-3523-5.
Schaefer, Bernd (2009)."Communist Vanguard Contest in East Asia during the 1960s and 1970s".In Vu, T.; Wongsurawat, W. (eds.).Dynamics of the Cold War in Asia: Ideology, Identity, and Culture.New York: Springer. pp. 113–126.ISBN 978-0-230-10199-9.
Wertz, Daniel; Oh, JJ; Kim, Insung (August 2016).Issue Brief: DPRK Diplomatic Relations(PDF).The National Committee on North Korea. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 28 December 2016.Retrieved19 January2017.

v t e Foreign relations of North Korea
Africa	Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Central African Republic Comoros Egypt Equatorial Guinea Gambia Ghana Guinea-Bissau Kenya Libya Mauritania Namibia Nigeria Rwanda Seychelles Somalia South Africa Tanzania Togo
Americas	Argentina Brazil Canada Cuba Grenada Mexico Peru United States Venezuela
Asia	Bangladesh Cambodia China History Hong Kong India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Malaysia Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Pakistan Palestine Philippines Singapore South Korea Syria Taiwan Turkey Vietnam
Europe	Albania Denmark Finland France Germany Hungary Iceland Italy Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia Serbia Spain Sweden Switzerland Ukraine United Kingdom
Oceania	Australia New Zealand
Former states	Yugoslavia
Multilateralrelations	United Nations Security Council resolutions Sanctions 1983 NAM Education and Culture Conference European Union Inter-Korean Liaison Office Inter-Korean summits 2000 2007 April 2018 May 2018 September 2018 Six-party talks 2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit reactions 2019 North Korea–United States Hanoi Summit 2019 Koreas–United States DMZ Summit
Diplomatic missions of/in North Korea Ministry of Foreign Affairs(includes list of ministers)

Ghana–North Korea relations

History

Trade

See also

References

Works cited

Further reading