On the morning of 12 December 2000, at a brief signing ceremony in the office of the Permanent Undersecretary, Sir John Kerr, in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London, Britain and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK – North Korea) signed a document in which they agreed to exchange diplomatic missions. The signatories were Sir John Kerr for the United Kingdom, and Mr Kim Chun Guk, head of the European Department of the DPRK's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) for the DPRK. Within minutes, the news of this development had appeared on the FCO's website, and was being announced throughout the world. Given the past history of lack of contact between the two countries, some expressed surprise at the apparent speed of developing relations. Among international news services, only Radio China International noted that Britain was the first Western permanent member of the United Nations’ Security Council to establish diplomatic relations with the DPRK.

This essay, which partly derives from presentations to workshops run by the British Association for Korean Studies in December 2001 and December 2002, is both a short history of how that ceremony came about and a very personal account of what came next. Where possible, I have provided references to published or available sources, but for some matters in which I was personally involved, this has not always been possible. The views expressed are my own, and do not necessarily represent British government policy.

BACKGROUND: BRITAIN'S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE DPRK 1948–2000

Before 2000, Britain and the DPRK had tended to ignore each other. Indeed, before the Second World War, and the subsequent division of the Korean peninsula, British involvement in the northern half of the peninsula had been minimal. Britain had briefly maintained a proconsul at Wonsan, and there was some missionary activity. The main British interest at that period was gold mining.

Following the 1945 division of the Korean peninsula, and the emergence of two separate Korean states by 1948, Britain, in common with most Western countries, had recognised the Republic of Korea (ROK – South Korea) as the “only legitimate government” on the peninsula. This recognition did not extend to the ROK's claim to the whole peninsula, but nevertheless Britain had no dealings with the authorities north of the 38th parallel. The Korean War (1950–53), though it made no legal difference, reinforced the position taken in 1948.