Switzerland reopened its diplomatic office in Pyongyang yesterday — the first visit by a Federal Councillor to North Korea in more than twenty years
Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis is flying to the North Korean capital before continuing on to Seoul.
Until now, Bern had communicated with Pyongyang remotely from Beijing.
Switzerland hopes a direct channel will make its mediation offer more credible to both Koreas, as inter-Korean relations grow more tense.
Cassis is only the second Federal Councillor ever to visit — Micheline Calmy-Rey went in 2003, a trip criticised at the time for lending legitimacy to the regime.
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