North Korea and Syria have long enjoyed close ties, sharing historical roots in the anti-imperialist socialist camp during the Cold War and the relationship between the two countries’ founding leaders, Kim Il Sung and Hafez Al-Assad.
That friendship has only grown stronger in recent years, too, as North Korea and Syria have become increasingly internationally isolated over, respectively, their nuclear programs and a brutal and now almost-a-decade-long civil war.
At the forefront of this unusual alliance is Tamman Sulaiman, who this week joined the NK News podcast to discuss the Damascus-Pyongyang alliance, expanding cooperation between the two countries, and daily life as a diplomat in the DPRK.
Tamman Sulaiman has served as Syrian Ambassador to North Korea since 2015. Prior to that, he served as Charge D’Affaires Ad Interim in Pyongyang, and before that as Syrian Ambassador to Australia.
About the podcast: The “North Korea News Podcast” is a weekly podcast hosted exclusively by NK News, covering all things DPRK: from news to extended interview with leading experts and analysts in the field and insight from our very own journalists.
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