Police conducts raid at North Korean embassy in Pakistan; Interior minister apologises

The police in Pakistan's national capital conducted a raid at the North Korean embassy earlier this week over inputs about the presence of a large amount of liquor in its premises, prompting the diplomatic mission to lodge a strong protest over what it called the violation of the Vienna Convention.

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid on Thursday apologised for the police raid on the diplomatic mission, terming the incident as a "misunderstanding".

"We have apologised (to the North Korean mission)," Rashid said, adding that the incident “happened out of misunderstanding.".

His remarks came hours after reports surfaced that the North Korean embassy wrote a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, saying the Islamabad Police violated the Vienna Convention.

A report published in The News daily said that the embassy had stated in a letter to the Foreign Office and Islamabad's police chief that police entered the mission's premises from the backdoor at approximately 5 pm (local time) on March 7 and harassed its workers.

The paper reported that the embassy in the letter said that the staff reminded the police that the embassy was exercising the inviolable sovereign territory of North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and asked them to immediately stop this brutal, the letter read.

However, the letter claimed that the policemen searched the storeroom in the backyard on the pretense of looking for something and threatened the mission staff with guns who tried to stop them.

The letter also stated that the policemen damaged the embassy's property.

In response, the Foreign Office spokesperson said the Islamabad Police had been informed that they did not have the authority to enter the embassy premises without permission.

"They have also been informed that they cannot perform such a raid next time without having clearance from the Foreign Office," the spokesperson said.

The Islamabad Police admitted that officers had entered the North Korean embassy and apologised for the violation of convention, according to the paper.

According to an Islamabad Police spokesperson, the law enforcement personnel who broke the law will face serious punishment.

"We apologise for entering the embassy," the spokesperson said.

He added that the Shalimar Police had raided the North Korean Embassy after receiving reports of the presence of a large amount of liquor in the premises.

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