Mexico decided to expel North Korean ambassador, giving him 72 hours to leave the country, in protest against the DPRK’s sixth nuke test on Sunday.
Secretariat of Foreign Affairs of Mexico on Thursday announced it.
“Today, the Mexican government declared Mr. Kim Hyong Gil, ambassador of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, persona non grata, giving him 72 hours to leave the country,” the statement reads.
“With this diplomatic step, Mexico expresses to the North Korean government its categorical repudiation of its recent nuclear activity, which is an increasingly brazen violation of international law and which poses a serious threat to the Asian region and to the world.”
According to the statement, the decision follows an executive order by President Enrique Peña Nieto’s issued earlier that day ordering government agencies to fully comply with United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions against North Korea.
Kim Hyong Gil has served as DPRK ambassador to Mexico since June last year, according to a report in the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The U.S. has been putting pressure on UN member states to downgrade relations with North Korea, emphasising the country’s reported exploitation of diplomatic facilities and privileges to earn foreign currency for its missile and nuclear development programmes .
Other countries appear to be following suit. In mid-July, Peru instructed the North Korean embassy in Lima to reduce the number of its credited diplomats as part of measures pursuant to Paragraph 14 of Resolution 2321, which calls upon UN member states to “reduce the number of staff at DPRK diplomatic missions and consular posts.”
Mexico’s Secretariat of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday strongly condemned North Korea’s sixth nuclear test and said that the country was “analysing possible bilateral diplomatic measures” in response.
“North Korea’s nuclear tests are unacceptable; … Mexico reiterates that North Korea is required to comply with the resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council since 2006, which require North Korea to suspend its nuclear weapons programme. ballistic missile launches, and any other act of provocation,” the statement reads.
Mexico and North Korea had a serious diplomatic falling-out in 2014, after the DPRK-owned ship the Mu Du Bong ran aground on a reef near the Mexican port of Tuxpan in July that year.
After the ship was shown to be linked to North Korea’s arms smuggling Ocean Maritime Management Company (OMM), the Mexican government impounded it, deported the crew, and scrapped the vessel – all to strong protests from Pyongyang.
