Going north: Paul Bellamy reviews New Zealand diplomacy in Pyongyang from 2002 to 2011.

• Author: Bellamy, Paul
• Position: P'yongyang, North Korea

New Zealand diplomats regularly travel to North Korea, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs visited in 2007. Interactions can be challenging with their controlled and formal nature, the North's suspicions and communication issues. However, Pyongyang has warmly welcomed the visits, and there have been positive experiences. They provide an important opportunity for dialogue, and for New Zealand directly to voice its position. Key issues discussed include the North's nuclear weapons programme, inter-Korean relations, human rights and bilateral relations. While New Zealand's influence is limited, it can help reduce Korean peninsula tensions through a multilateral approach and engagement with Pyongyang. Ultimately, though, the success of such an approach largely depends on the North.

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Following the 1953 armistice in Korea, New Zealand recognised the need for peaceful dialogue to reduce the danger of renewed hostilities. However, dialogue with the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) was difficult. North Korea's obstinacy was criticised at armistice commission meetings at the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ); in 1958 it reportedly refused to 'negotiate even the most innocuous subjects on any terms other than their own'. By 1973 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that it had urged Pyongyang to 'adopt better and less provocative behaviour (as we have been doing before playing our one card, recognition) for over 20 years'. Unofficial contacts could also be controversial, as illustrated by the July--August 1978 visit of a North Korean delegation to New Zealand, which included discussions on a fuel (coke) deal. Diplomatic relations were only established in 2001.

David Taylor (ambassador to Korea 2002-06 and director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Asia Division 2006-08) presented his credentials in Pyongyang in September 2002.

Taylor made three visits in 2002--two were Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organisation (KEDO) site visits--and travelled once a year from 2003 to 2005. The initial visits aimed to build relationships. Pyongyang welcomed food aid and greater contact, and unsuccessfully sought establishment of an embassy in North Korea and funding for visits to New Zealand. It also sought investment in agriculture, aquiculture and forestry. The North Koreans suggested the possibility of exporting handicrafts, clothing, Korean liquor and medicines to New Zealand, but little demand was seen for such products, and doubts existed over the means of transporting them.

Generally positive but uninformed views of New Zealand existed in Pyongyang. Its foreign policy was viewed as independent because of the anti-nuclear stance. North Korea did not 'press' the issue of the country's role in the Korean War. During one visit Taylor received positive information on the Japanese hostages issue which relates to North Korea's abduction of Japanese citizens during the 1970s and 1980s. A North Korean official...