Egypt–North Korea relations

Egypt relations

Map indicating locations of North Korea and Egypt
North Korea	Egypt

Egypt – North Korea relations are the current and historical Bilateral relations between the two countries.

History

The first cooperation between the two countries was in yom kippur war where North Korea managed to train Egyptian military officials directly in North Korea, also sending some 30 pilots and missile technicians to Egypt.^[1] Egypt is believed to have sent Scud-B missiles to North Korea as a gift for its support during the 1973 conflict. After Mubarak’s take over in 1981, North Korea almost uniquely a military supplier, focused especially in missile acquisitions.^[2] During the Iran-Iraq War, North Korea shocked its Middle East “allies” by taking Islamic Iran’s side (due to the strong anti-American rhetoric brought by Khomeini). Despite massive American aid, and North Korean aid to Iran, Mubarak was still willing to keep warm military ties with North Korea, actually visiting the North Koreafour times between 1983 and 1990. Reports from the CIA argued North Korea made a few military shipments to Egypt in 1996 in order to build long-range missiles such as the Scud-C.

Economic relations

So far, economic relations take place especially in the field of telecommunication, by Orascom Telecom. This Egyptian based company is part of the Orascomhodling company, which also specializes in construction. In 2008 CHEO Technology (joint-operators of Koryolink) was created to provide North Korea with a cell phone network. While Korea Post and Telecommunication Corporation owns 25% of this company, Orascom owns the remaining 75%. As part of the deal, Orascom agreed to invest nearly $400 million by 2012 in North Korea.

References

1. ^ Culture and Conflict in Egyptian-Israeli Relations: A Dialogue of the Deaf
2. ^ Culture and Conflict in Egyptian-Israeli Relations: A Dialogue of the Deaf