World · 2026-11-01 · Afternoon briefing

Switzerland restores North Korea dialogue with first visit since 2003

Switzerland’s foreign minister, Ignazio Cassis, has made the first visit by a top Swiss diplomat to North Korea since 2003. The trip on October 29th and 30th marked the formal reopening of Switzerland's diplomatic office in Pyongyang, which closed during the pandemic in 2020, and aimed to restore direct political dialogue, suspended since 2019.

In Pyongyang, Mr Cassis met with his counterpart, Choe Son Hui, and a senior official from the ruling Workers' Party, Jo Yong Won. He then travelled to Seoul, where South Korean officials expressed hope the reopened office could facilitate engagement with the North. Switzerland has a long-standing role as a neutral monitor of the armistice that halted the Korean War in 1953.

North Korea's state media described the discussions as occurring in a "friendly atmosphere." The talks occurred as tensions rise on the peninsula; on Thursday, South Korea's military reported that North Korea had fired around 10 short-range ballistic missiles towards the sea.

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• Swiss foreign minister makes first North Korea visit since 2003 as diplomatic office reopens
• Swiss foreign minister to hold talks in North Korea this week
• Swiss minister visits North Korea to reopen office
• Switzerland opens Pyongyang office, seeks to mediate Korea Peninsula peace
• Swiss Foreign Minister visits North Korea to reopen diplomatic office in Pyongyang for the first time in 52 years

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