Türkiye and North Korea concluded their first official bilateral agreement on 12 November 2004, a commercial and economic cooperation accord designed to provide a formal framework for trade between the two countries. A Turkish official confirmed the signing, which formalized a relationship that had rested on diplomatic recognition alone since 2001.
The pact was signed by Tuncer Kayalar, Türkiye's undersecretary for foreign trade, and Kim Ha Dong, North Korea's ambassador to Bulgaria. The involvement of a third-country envoy on the North Korean side reflected a broader gap: despite three years of diplomatic relations, neither country has established a resident embassy on the other's territory.
Trade between the two countries has grown in recent years, reaching four million dollars in 2003 and 4.5 million dollars in the first nine months of 2004 alone. The new agreement aims to expand that commerce further.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in November 2004, in its own words.