Berlin hostel caught up in global fallout from Korea’s nuclear plan
THE German government has said it will shut down a hostel in the centre of Berlin run by the North Korean embassy because it violates United Nations sanctions.
City Hostel Berlin reportedly pays up to €38,000 (£32,000) in monthly rent to the secretive state, which also raises funds from a conference hall on the site. However, the UN has imposed sanctions on North Korea to shut down its revenue streams and slow the pace of its testing of nuclear weapons.
“We must increase pressure to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table,” said German foreign ministry state secretary Markus Ederer. “That means we must consistently implement sanctions imposed by the United Nations and the European Union.”
“In that regard, it is particularly important that we do even more to dry up the financial resources used to fund the nuclear programme,” he added.
The sprawling diplomatic compound was built in Communist-era east Berlin, before Germany’s reunification in 1990. At the time, East Germany was viewed by Pyongyang as an ideal model for a communist state, and it sent hundreds of students to live in east Berlin.
Relations soured after the reunification of Germany and North Korea did not re-establish diplomatic ties until 2001.
City Hostel Berlin, which can host more than 400 guests per night, was set up on the embassy premises in 2004, with revenue believed to go to funding nuclear research.
According to the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, the embassy has long been a source of annoyance, with diplomats accused of trafficking drugs and ivory to raise funds.
The hostel’s low prices – just €9.50 per night made it a magnet for visitors to Berlin on a budget. However, the UN has explicitly banned leasing arrangements by North Korean embassies as part of the Security Council resolution passed in November 2016 after Pyongyang’s fifth nuclear test.
It says: “All member countries shall prohibit North Korea to use real estate that it owns or leases for other than diplomatic or consular activities.”
A woman who answered the phone at the North Korean embassy yesterday in Berlin said so that no one was there to comment and hung up.
The renewed tension comes after Pyongyang said it was to go forward with a sixth nuclear test, something President Donald Trump has warned could lead to a “major, major conflict”.
South Korean defence sources in Seoul told The Daily Telegraph that a plan of attack has already been drawn up involving a “surgical strike” on six key nuclear facilities. But one analyst warned Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, would be likely to retaliate with a long-range artillery strike on Seoul.