Thursday, January 04, 2007
Iraqi embassy reopens in South Korea after 13 years
Diplomatic Corps
The Iraqi government has reopened its embassy in South Korea 13 years after its closure, an official at the Foreign Ministry said Thursday. A group of three Iraqi diplomats entered the country late last year and "filed a request on Nov. 30 for the establishment of a diplomatic mission," an official at the ministry's office of protocol told Yonhap News Agency.
"The ministry has issued approval" for the request, the official added, while speaking on condition of anonymity. South Korea established diplomatic ties with the Middle Eastern country in 1989, but the country withdrew its mission to Baghdad in 1991 following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait a year earlier. Iraq closed down its diplomatic mission in Seoul in 1994, according to the ministry. South Korea currently maintains the third-largest contingent of foreign troops in Iraq after the United States and Britain.
"The ministry has issued approval" for the request, the official added, while speaking on condition of anonymity. South Korea established diplomatic ties with the Middle Eastern country in 1989, but the country withdrew its mission to Baghdad in 1991 following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait a year earlier. Iraq closed down its diplomatic mission in Seoul in 1994, according to the ministry. South Korea currently maintains the third-largest contingent of foreign troops in Iraq after the United States and Britain.
