▲ This image, provided by Yonhap News TV, shows North Korean workers dispatched abroad. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

NK embassy-closure

N. Korea pulls out of Hong Kong, Libya in series of embassy closures: official

SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has shut down its diplomatic missions in Hong Kong and Libya, a foreign ministry official said Tuesday, as the recalcitrant regime struggles with economic challenges amid prolonged sanctions.

They are the latest in the list of overseas missions Pyongyang has shut down in the past months, including Angola, Nepal, Bangladesh, Spain and Uganda. North Korea has said the closures are part of efforts to enhance its diplomatic efficiency.

The total number of North Korean diplomatic missions stood at 44 as of Tuesday, according to the South Korean foreign ministry website.

In November last year, North Korea said it was closing and opening new diplomatic missions "in accordance with the changed global environment and national diplomatic policy," without elaborating.

South Korea's unification ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, earlier assessed the recent shutdowns as an apparent sign of North Korea's faltering economy worsened by global sanctions.

Rather than receiving funds from Pyongyang, the North's diplomatic missions are known to secure funds for operations through illicit trade and commercial activities, and to send remittances to their home country, according to former North Korean diplomats who have defected to South Korea.

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