North Korea shuts down its embassy in Spain: Report

ANKARA

North Korea has shut down its embassy in Madrid, Spain amid an economic crisis due to global sanctions, South Korean media said on Wednesday.

The latest move came after Pyongyang closed its embassy in Angola and Uganda last month, Seoul-based Yonhap News reported.

North Korea did not give a reason for the decision but the South Korean Unification Ministry claimed that the embassy was closed due to financial difficulties.

"The flurry of measures appears to show that it is no longer feasible for the North to maintain diplomatic missions as their efforts to obtain foreign currency have stumbled due to strengthened sanctions," the agency quoted an unnamed Unification Ministry official as saying.

North Korea established diplomatic relations with Spain in 2001 and opened its embassy in 2013.

Pyongyang’s mission in Italy will look after matters related to Spain, according to report.