The Ambassador of Sweden to North Korea (known formally as the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) is the official representative of the government of Sweden to the Supreme Leader and government of North Korea. Sweden is the protecting power of United States interests in North Korea. Until 2001, Sweden was the only western state with unbroken diplomatic representation in the city. The Swedish embassy has consular representation for Australia, Canada and the Nordic countries.

History On 6 April 1973, the Swedish government decided, as the first Western European country, in the Council of State to recognize North Korea. Two days later, on 8 April, North Korea announced that it had received and accepted Sweden's proposal to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries. In May of the same year, Sweden's ambassador in Beijing, Arne Björnberg, was also accredited to North Korea. Björnberg presented his credentials to President Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang on 24 May 1973. Björnberg was the first diplomat to present his credentials to Kim Il Sung, who had become president the year before.

On 6 December 1974, Erik Cornell was appointed Sweden's first counsellor and chargé d'affaires ad interim in Pyongyang. The Swedish embassy opened in February 1975. Until 2002, the Swedish ambassador was still accredited from Beijing, when Paul Beijer was appointed as Sweden's first resident ambassador in Pyongyang.

List of representatives NamePeriodResident/Non residentTitleNotesRefArne BjörnbergMay 1973 – 1974 Non-residentAmbassadorResident in Beijing.Kaj Björk1975–1979 Non-residentAmbassadorResident in Beijing.Erik Cornell1975–1977 ResidentChargé d'affairesKarlerik Nordenquist1977–1979 ResidentChargé d'affairesIngolf Kiesow1979–1981 ResidentChargé d'affairesSten Sundfeldt1980–1982 Non-residentAmbassadorResident in Beijing.–1983–1983 AmbassadorVacantPer Fritzson1982–1983 ResidentChargé d'affairesUlla Boija1983–1985 ResidentChargé d'affairesLars Bergquist1984–1988 Non-residentAmbassadorResident in Beijing.Gudmund Naessén1985–1988 ResidentChargé d'affairesBjörn Skala1988–1991 Non-residentAmbassadorResident in Beijing.Göran Wide1989–1992 ResidentChargé d'affairesSven Linder1992–1997 Non-residentAmbassadorResident in Beijing.–1993–1994 Chargé d'affairesVacantÅke Lövquist1995–1997 ResidentChargé d'affairesKjell Anneling1997–2002 Non-residentAmbassadorResident in Beijing.Svante Kilander1998–2001 ResidentChargé d'affairesPaul Beijer2001–2002 ResidentChargé d'affairesPaul Beijer2002–2005 ResidentAmbassadorMats Foyer2005–2010 ResidentAmbassadorBarbro Elm2010–2012 ResidentAmbassadorKarl-Olof Andersson2012–2014 ResidentAmbassador2014–2017 ResidentAmbassadorJonas Wendel1 September 2017 – 2019 ResidentAmbassadorJoachim Bergström1 September 2019 – 2021 ResidentAmbassadorAndreas Bengtsson1 September 2021 – 2026 ResidentAmbassadorJosef AhlbergAugust 2026 – present ResidentAmbassador

See also North Korea–Sweden relations

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