North Korean diplomatic couriers removed from train after scuffle
Two customs officials and police officer suffer bruises in incident
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An unusual fracas took place at Kouvola Railway Station last week between Finnish officials and two North Korean couriers carrying diplomatic post.
Two members of the Finnish border guard and a police officer suffered bruises in the incident which took place on Tuesday morning in a passenger compartment on the train that was en route from Moscow to Helsinki.
Soon after nine in the morning on Tuesday, the conductor of the train asked for the help of local police in dealing with two difficult passengers.
When police arrived at the scene, they met the conductor, as well as officials of Finnish Customs and the Border Guard. Two citizens of the Democratic Republic of Korea were in a compartment and refused to show their tickets.
The customs agents said that the two refused to allow the officials inside to conduct an inspection, and had used force to push them out. The border guards said that the men had diplomatic passports, which were nevertheless not validated for Finland.
If a diplomatic passport lacks the appropriate supplements, it is considered equivalent to the passport of an ordinary traveller. Travel tickets need to be shown even with a valid diplomatic passport.
The police also met with violent behaviour on the part of the North Koreans.
Two customs officials and one police officer were jostled somewhat in the incident. The border guards and the conductor were unhurt.
The police had to use force to calm the situation down, and the North Koreans were taken to Kouvola Police Station to clear up the matter.
After a couple of hours, the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs decided that although their documents were inadequate, the two would be granted diplomatic immunity.
The Kouvola police then took the North Koreans back to the railway station and put them on the next train to Helsinki.
Tiina Myllyntausta, deputy head of protocol at the Foreign Ministry, says that it is established international practice to require a supplementary document in addition to a diplomatic passport before the holder can be seen to enjoy diplomatic immunity.
Myllyntausta says that the passports should have contained a residence permit for Finland, which is granted by the protocol section of the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
North Korea no longer has a separate embassy in Finland: the North Korean Embassy in Stockholm serves that purpose.
The men were met in Helsinki by officials of their country’s Embassy in Stockholm.
The situation was made more difficult by the fact that only one of the two spoke very poor English, and the other spoke only Korean. However, the lack of language skills was not seen to be the main reason for the incident.
Police also say that the two men were not intoxicated.
"If they had shown their tickets, nothing would have happened, and they could have proceeded Helsinki", says Mikko Kerkelä of the Kouvola police.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 19.2.2007 - TODAY |
 North Korean diplomatic couriers removed from train after scuffle
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