It never got paid for the Volvos, but could Sweden mediate with North Korea?

Sweden has not yet been paid by North Korea for the hundreds of Volvo sedans it imported in the 1970s and which can still be seen on the streets of the communist country.

While the deal was not the commercial success Sweden had hoped for, it serves as a reminder of its long involvement in North Korea. This raises the question of whether Sweden could use its special relationship to act as an intermediary in the nuclear crisis between North Korea and the United States.

The United States has no formal diplomatic relations with North Korea, limiting the options for the two sides to reduce tensions over North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons programs.

Sweden, however, plays a crucial diplomatic role with the secretive government in North Korea, most often seen when it acts on behalf of the West when Westerners get into trouble.

Read the whole story from Reuters.

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