The North Korean Embassy Incident in Madrid
DiplomacyComments
It is heartening that the individuals involved eventually found safety. This incident brought much needed public attention to the bravery of defectors and the risks they take for freedom.
Wait, did the staff member who jumped actually get help immediately... or did the police just stand there and watch them on the sidewalk too? That feels like a huge gap in the protocol...
Regarding the legal void mentioned, I wonder if the Spanish authorities attempted to invoke the 'necessity' principle to justify a breach of the inviolability of the premises.
This mirrors the 1984 Libyan Embassy siege in London. That event showed the Vienna Convention has breaking points when a situation evolves into a full scale hostage crisis.
The timing is key. Spain was navigating a delicate period with Pyongyang, so the strict adherence to the Vienna Convention was likely a strategic choice to prevent a total diplomatic break rather than simple helplessness.
Strategic choice? That is just a fancy way of saying they were paralyzed. Why call it a strategy when the result was a total failure to protect people on their own soil?
If we imagine the alternative, a forced entry would have created a precedent allowing any nation to raid embassies under the guise of rescue. The risk of global diplomatic instability would likely outweigh the tactical gain of entering that one building.
the north koreans eventually let them leave only after a crowd of protesters gathered outside.