North Korea Sends Delegation to Climate Summit... "Continued Participation in Environmental Issues"

Participation in Climate Conferences Even During COVID-19

EPA Yonhap News

North Korea has dispatched a delegation to the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP29), which opened in Baku, Azerbaijan. North Korea is actively participating in environmental issue meetings to obtain technical support amid various natural disasters caused by global warming and climate change.

On the 12th (local time), NK News, a U.S.-based North Korea specialist media outlet, reported that the North Korean delegation was confirmed to have attended the opening plenary of COP29 through photos and videos. NK News explained that based on the appearance of the individuals captured in the footage, the North Korean delegation appears to be led by Ju Young-cheol, Counsellor of the North Korean Mission in Geneva.

Despite being isolated from the international community during the COVID-19 pandemic under the pretext of quarantine measures, North Korea has consistently participated in international meetings related to climate issues. In the climate conferences held in the UK in 2021 and Egypt in 2022, diplomats stationed in the host countries attended respectively, and at last year's event in Dubai, Bang Gwang-hyok, Deputy Chief of the North Korean Mission in Geneva, was dispatched. Earlier this year, in February and March, North Korea sent a delegation led by Kim Kyung-jun, Minister of Land and Environmental Protection, to the 6th session of the United Nations Environment Programme held in Nairobi, Kenya. North Korea is also a party to the Paris Agreement and the Kyoto Protocol.

NK News interpreted this as "showing a willingness to participate in environmental issues despite diplomatic restrictions related to other geopolitical issues." North Korea is reportedly lacking the capacity to respond to food shortages and energy deficits caused by climate change and is relying on climate finance and technical support such as carbon emissions trading schemes. Gordon Kang, Senior Analyst at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, explained, "This shows that North Korea acknowledges the need to take a pragmatic approach to certain issues and prioritizes material aspects over ideology."