Africa-Press – Botswana. The North Korean ambassador to Switzerland left Geneva on Thursday, sources familiar with the move said, amid growing allegations that he was involved in illegal trading of African wildlife parts for profit in a bid to evade U.N. sanctions.
Pyongyang recalled the envoy Han Tae Song as a U.N. Security Council-related panel of experts and Swiss authorities are investigating his role in the illegal trade of elephant tusks and rhinoceros horns.
Han’s return home, without any announcement of a successor, has fueled speculation that the North Korean government may have acted to avoid his further exposure in the ongoing investigation.
Several Chinese nationals, apparently affiliated with the country’s mission in Geneva, saw Han off at Geneva Airport on Thursday, the sources said, noting that he is expected to stay in the Chinese capital for several days before heading back to North Korea.
Han, who took the post in 2017, was allegedly engaged in the transfers of at least 19 elephant tusks and 18 rhino horns in 2022 and 2023, in deals involving Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique before the items were shipped to China, according to a recent report from Botswana.
The U.N. panel and authorities of the African countries are currently conducting further investigations into the alleged smuggling activities.
Ivory and rhino horns are valued components in Chinese medicine and command high prices. North Korea is believed to engage in illicit trading of these materials as a covert means of obtaining foreign currencies.
The U.N. Security Council has authorized a spate of sanctions against North Korea in reaction to the country’s activities related to its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs in defiance of resolutions adopted by the council.
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