North Korean diplomat visits Cuba on undisclosed mission

Kang Sok SuKang Sok Su, member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of North Korea’s Workers’ Party and the party’s Secretary of International Relations, arrived in Havana last week for an official visit, accompanied by his deputy, Pak Kun Gwang, and other party functionaries.

On Saturday (June 27), they and Pak Chung Yul, North Korean ambassador to Cuba, met with José Ramón Machado Ventura, second secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba; José Ramón Balaguer and Oscar Martínez Cordovés, chief and deputy chief respectively of the Department of International Relations of the Cuban Communist Party’s Central Committee.

A report Sunday in the Cuban daily Juventud Rebelde described the meeting as a “fraternal exchange on the status of relations between both parties and nations, as well as on other national and international topics.”

The [North] Korean Center News Agency related that “both sides informed each other of their party activities and exchanged views on the issue of boosting the friendly and cooperative relations between the two parties and countries and issues of mutual concern.”

Later, Kang met with President Raúl Castro Ruz and attended a reception given by the Communist Party of Cuba.

Neither Havana nor Pyongyang has stated the specific reason for Kang’s trip or its duration, but Pyongyang-watchers in South Korea believe that he’s in Cuba to request food aid for his country, which has been severely affected by a serious drought this year — the worst in a century, according to North Korean authorities.

Researchers at South Korea’s Institute for National Security Strategy point to the simultaneous departure for Russia by Choe Thae Bok, chairman of the Workers’ Party Central Committee, as evidence that North Korea is looking abroad for food supplies.

Also, Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong traveled to Equatorial Guinea last week, beginning what the North Korean news agency described as a tour of “some African states.” In mid-March, Ri paid a short visit to Havana, where he met with his counterpart, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla.

The 76-year-old Kang Sok Su (transliterated to English as Kang Sok Ju) is, according to North Korea Leadership Watch, “one of North Korea’s most experienced and influential foreign policy officials, having been one of [the late President] Kim Jong Ilís trusted foreign-policy hands.”

“He participated in numerous interactions […] with the foreign leadership of the United States, Japan, South Korea, China and Russia. Kang is a cousin of [the late] Kim Jong Ilís.”

Cuba has maintained diplomatic relations with North Korea since 1960. Fidel Castro visited that country in March 1986.

[Photo at top of Kang Sok Su being greeted by President Raúl Castro on June 27. At left is José Ramón Machado Ventura.]