North Korea calls Embassy Raid in Madrid as a terrorist attack

North Korea has called for an investigation into the February attack on its embassy in Spain. It has labelled the same as a grave act of terror and also an extortion act which completely violates the international law. It was in February that a group of men, all armed had stormed into the North Korean embassy and had roughed up the employees and then later took away all the documents and computers. The incident had occurred only days after the high stakes meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the US President Donald Trump at Hanoi had failed to reach any suitable conclusion.

The responsibility of the attack had been claimed by a dissident group which had earlier also called for the overthrowing of North Korean government. The latter in its first official comment about the incident has said that it is monitoring the rumours that there is an involvement of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and also an anti-North Korea group.

The North Korean news agency stated, “A grave terrorist attack occurred on February 22, where an armed group assaulted the DPRK Embassy in Spain. An illegal intrusion into and occupation of a diplomatic mission and act of theft are a grave breach of state sovereignty and a flagrant violation of the international law, and this kind of act should never be tolerated over the globe”.

An elaborate investigation into the incident is already underway in Madrid. A Spanish Court has accused 10 people for the incident. They are charged with forcing their way into the North Korean Embassy and tried to persuade an official to defect. A Mexican national Adrian Hong Chang has been named as the leader of the group who later contacted the FBI in New York, five days after the attack, having information regarding the attack. As per the judge, two assailants had taken the commercial attache of the embassy to an underground location and had strongly urged them to defect. There have been growing speculation over the identity of the assailants and also their motive. Media has suggested links with the Central Intelligence Agency of US and also FBI. North Korea, has not blamed Washington directly for the incident but has asked the Spanish to undertake an elaborate investigation into the incident in a responsible manner.

Hours after the official statement of North Korea, the Cheollima Civil Defense, a dissident group comprised of the high-end defectors of North Korea had taken responsibility of the raid.