Embassy of the Republic of Korea to Norway

It is easy to think of Norway, located in Northern Europe, as a distant country, but if you look closer, it has treasured history that is closely intertwined with Korea. Norway dispatched 623 medical workers to Korea during the Korean war, opened the Norwegian Mobile Surgical Hospital (NORMASH), and treated over 90,000 wounded soldiers and civilians. Thus, Norway is a country for which we are deeply grateful. Furthermore, at the outbreak of the war, Trygve Lie from Norway, the first UN Secretary-General, played a decisive role in dispatching UN troops to the Korean Peninsula. Our two countries, while both protecting international peace and democracy, have developed strong friendly and cooperative ties since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1959. Today, we are close friends who share universal values such as freedom, human rights, and the rule of law, and work closely on a wide range of issues amid the current rapidly changing international situation and complex global crises.

Trade and investment between our two countries have steadily increased, especially in the shipbuilding and maritime industries, based on our complementary economic structures. More recently, substantive cooperation has been expanding in diverse fields such as the defense industry, the Arctic, and sustainable energy. Additionally, Norway, a resource-rich oil and gas producer, is an important cooperative partner with whom we continue to work with for a stable supply chain.

Norway is widely known as the country of fjords, salmon, and the Nobel Peace Prize, but it is also a country that has produced great artists in the field of arts and culture, such as expressionist painter Edvard Munch, playwright of “A Doll's House,” Henrik Ibsen, and recent Nobel laureate in Literature, Jon Fosse. Expanding exchanges and cooperation in the field of arts and culture between the two countries will help the people of both countries understand each other more closely.

Our Embassy will spare no effort to ensure that Korea-Norway relations further develop in all areas, including politics, economy, culture, and education. In addition, we will do our best to serve as a bridge between overseas Koreans living in Norway and our home country, while also providing safety and convenience for Koreans visiting Norway.

We hope our Embassy homepage will be of great help to those who are interested in Norway. If you have any inquiries or advice for the Embassy, please contact us at the Embassy’s official email address 'kornor@mofa.go.kr'.

Thank you.