STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) — The United States said Monday it hoped to “reinvigorate dialogue” with North Korea through Swedish diplomats who have just re-established a diplomatic mission there following a pandemic shutdown.

In the absence of diplomatic relations between Washington and Pyongyang, Sweden represents US interests in North Korea, but its diplomats were forced to leave when the country closed its borders in 2020.

A Swedish diplomatic team returned to North Korea on 13 September however and “can now work on resuming the embassy’s regular activities,” the foreign ministry in Stockholm said in a statement.

Washington welcomed the move, with State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller calling Sweden “our protecting power” in North Korea (DPRK).

“We support the return of foreign diplomats to Pyongyang and hope that it will reinvigorate dialogue, diplomacy and other forms of constructive engagement with the DPRK,” he told a news conference.

“We also hope that the DPRK will open its borders to international humanitarian workers whose aid efforts have been hindered by the DPRK’s border closures.”

Sweden has missions in Seoul, Pyongyang and in the demilitarized zone separating the two states, where it serves as a member of the supervisory commission that regulates a 1953 armistice between them.