Pakistan's interior minister apologises after police conduct raid at North Korean embassy

Pakistan's Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid on Thursday (March 9) apologised over a police raid at the North Korean embassy in the country's capital city of Islamabad.

Reports have mentioned that the police conducted a raid at the North Korean embassy earlier this week over inputs about the presence of a large amount of liquor in its premises.

The action prompted the diplomatic mission to lodge a strong protest as it called it a violation of the Vienna Convention.

Responding to that, Rashid apologised and termed the entire incident as a "misunderstanding". He said as quoted by PTI, "We have apologised (to the North Korean mission).

After the police raid, the North Korean embassy wrote a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, saying the Islamabad Police violated the Vienna Convention.

Citing the letter, a local media report stated that police entered the mission's premises from the backdoor at approximately 5:00 pm (local time) on March 7 and harassed its workers and damaged the embassy's property.

Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson took a note and responded to Islamabad Police. "They have also been informed that they cannot perform such a raid next time without having clearance from the Foreign Office," the spokesperson said.

Media reports also quoted Islamabad Police spokesperson, who said that the law enforcement personnel who broke the law will face serious punishment.