During the Cold War, Africa occupied a unique place in the North Korean consciousness, as it was a battleground with South Korea for votes in the United Nations, followers of its Juche ideology, and the recognition of Pyongyang as the legitimate Korean government.
In contrast to the present situation, in which the North Korean government receives aid from humanitarian organizations and foreign governments, from the mid-1960s through the early ’90s North Korea poured military and financial resources into Africa hoping to sway newly independent countries to recognize the leadership in Pyongyang as the official representative of the Korean people. As a result, North Korea set up dozens of embassies in sub-Saharan Africa from Conakry, Guinea to Pretoria, South Africa.
During the Cold War, Africa occupied a unique place in the North Korean consciousness, as it was a battleground with South Korea for votes in the United Nations, followers of its Juche ideology, and the recognition of Pyongyang as the legitimate Korean government.
In contrast to the present situation, in which the North Korean government receives aid from humanitarian organizations and foreign governments, from the mid-1960s through the early ’90s North Korea poured military and financial resources into Africa hoping to sway newly independent countries to recognize the leadership in Pyongyang as the official representative of the Korean people. As a result, North Korea set up dozens of embassies in sub-Saharan Africa from Conakry, Guinea to Pretoria, South Africa.
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Benjamin R. Young is an Assistant Professor of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness at VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University). He is the author of Guns, Guerillas, and the Great Leader: North Korea and the Third World (Stanford University Press, 2021). He received his Ph.D. from The George Washington University in 2018. He has previously taught at the U.S. Naval War College and Dakota State University. He has published peer-reviewed articles on North Korean history and politics in a number of scholarly journals and is a regular contributor to NK News.
