South Korea, Spain to hold talks following North Korea embassy raid

SEOUL, April 2 (UPI) -- South Korea and Spain are to hold diplomatic talks this Thursday, a week after an anti-Pyongyang group said it was behind the February raid at the North Korean Embassy in Madrid.

South Korea's first vice minister of foreign affairs, Cho Hyun, is to meet with State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Fernando Valenzuela in Seoul this week, Yonhap reported Tuesday.

Seoul's foreign ministry said the two countries are meeting ahead of their 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2020. The situation on the Korean Peninsula and the latest events on the "international stage" are to be discussed.

South Korean foreign ministry spokesman Kim In-cheol did not comment on the incident at the North Korean embassy on Tuesday.

The meeting is the first of its kind between South Korea and Spain since 2016.

Last week, a group that has identified itself as a North Korea government-in-exile, Cheollima Civil Defense, claimed responsibility for the raid.

The group has said it took computers and data and that the evidence was handed over to the FBI, according to the BBC.

International arrest warrants have been issued for the suspects, including Adrian Hong Chang, Sam Ryu and a South Korean, Woo Ran Lee.

Hong Chang is a U.S. resident who holds a Mexican passport, and allegedly posed as a North Korean diplomat with a Kim Jong Un badge when police arrived on the scene at the embassy.

Hong Chang's name and profile bears similarity to that of a North Korea human rights activist; Adrian Hong co-founded Liberty in North Korea, an international NGO.

Pyongyang condemned the attack after a month of silence.

"A grave terrorist attack occurred on Feb. 22, where an armed group assaulted the DPRK Embassy in Spain," a spokesman for the North's foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday, according to the BBC.

The United States has denied any involvement in Madrid.