I gather from a message from a former colleague in the Foreign Office that the DPRK ambassador to London and Aidan Foster-Carter are to debate on perspectives on the current situation on the Korean peninsula on June 9. Even though I suspect that there will be more heat than light in the discussion – both speakers have a robust reputation – this seems to me to be good news.
Even before I learnt of this encounter, NK News editor and publisher Chad O’Carroll had asked whether I would write on the subject of invitations to North Korean speakers. Like me, he had been at a meeting where a North Korean speaker could perhaps explain his – it is very, very rarely her – perspective in a way that no outsider could do. And yet, the occasions when this happens are rare indeed. We were also both aware, of course, of the recent incident at the UN when North Korea diplomats tried to shout down defectors testifying on human rights’ matters and then left the discussion – see here.
I gather from a message from a former colleague in the Foreign Office that the DPRK ambassador to London and Aidan Foster-Carter are to debate on perspectives on the current situation on the Korean peninsula on June 9. Even though I suspect that there will be more heat than light in the discussion – both speakers have a robust reputation – this seems to me to be good news.
Even before I learnt of this encounter, NK News editor and publisher Chad O’Carroll had asked whether I would write on the subject of invitations to North Korean speakers. Like me, he had been at a meeting where a North Korean speaker could perhaps explain his – it is very, very rarely her – perspective in a way that no outsider could do. And yet, the occasions when this happens are rare indeed. We were also both aware, of course, of the recent incident at the UN when North Korea diplomats tried to shout down defectors testifying on human rights’ matters and then left the discussion – see here.
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After Britain and North Korea re-established diplomatic relations in 2000, Hoare was appointed British Chargé d'affaires in Pyongyang; and his work laid the foundation for the establishment of a full embassy in the North Korean capital.
Previously, Hoare had been head of the Foreign Office's North Asia and Pacific Research Group. He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1969 and was stationed in Seoul in 1981 1984 and in Beijing in 1988-1991.