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| Korean Ambassador to the U.N. Cho Tae-yul, right, and North Macedonian Charge d'Affaires at the U.N. Sanja Zografska Krsteska pose after signing a joint diplomatic treaty at U.N. headquarters in New York City, Thursday. / Yonhap |
By Yi Whan-woo
Korea has formally established diplomatic relations with North Macedonia, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Friday.
Korea now has diplomatic ties with 191 countries, which includes U.N. member states plus non-U.N. members such as the Vatican that Korea independently recognizes as sovereign entities.
The foreign ministry said Korean Ambassador to the U.N. Cho Tae-yul signed the joint communique with Sanja Zografska Krsteska, North Macedonia's charge d'affaires at the U.N., at U.N. headquarters in New York City, Thursday.
"This new diplomatic treaty is expected to facilitate exchanges and cooperation at both government and civic levels," a ministry official said.
The official speculated the treaty will also help Korea expand its presence on the Balkan Peninsula.
The treaty comes after North Macedonia settled a 27-year dispute with Greece in 2018 over using "Macedonia" as the country's name.
Because of its own region with the same name, Greece had been protesting the Republic of Macedonia since the collapse of Yugoslavia in 1991.
The Greeks had argued that the name Macedonia should refer to only its northern region, which was Alexander the Great's stronghold in ancient times.
They also suspected its nascent neighbor of having territorial ambitions.
Korea had not established relations with the Republic of Macedonia because of Korea's ties with Greece, which was part of U.N. forces during the 1950-53 Korean War and a key partner in the shipping and maritime sectors.
The Republic of Macedonia then agreed to rename itself the Republic of North Macedonia in 2018. Greece in return dropped its objection to the former Yugoslav state joining NATO and the European Union.
Located in the southeastern part of Europe, the Balkan states are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia. Portions of Greece and Turkey are defined as part of the Balkan Peninsula.
