To Be or Not to Be? The North Korean Challenge to British Foreign Policy, 1971–1976

Abstract

This article seeks to explore the arguments that occurred mainly within the British Foreign Office and in its discussions with other government ministries in the early 1970s concerning the matter of affording diplomatic recognition to North Korea. Legal experts within the Foreign Office were concerned that London's non-recognition of Pyongyang could render Britain's position hypocritical and even illegal vis-à-vis its potential recognition of North Vietnam. British diplomats in Seoul however were adamant that North Korea should be not recognized for fear of angering both the South Korean and the American allies and damaging British commercial interests in South Korea. The Foreign Office ministers decided to delay the inevitable recognition for as long as they could, but then the illegal activities of North Korean diplomats in Europe came to light in 1976 and subsequently put an end to potential public queries about Britain's legal duty to recognise the North Korean regime.