In the year 2013, Germany and Korea celebrated 130 years of formal diplomatic relations first initiated by the signing of the German-Korean Trade, Friendship, and Shipping Agreement on November 26, 1883. While Germany and Korea may have thereafter occasionally loosened their ties in light of their considerable geographic distance, the dramatic trajectory of their respective national histories, and changing political conditions on the world stage, they have never altogether abandoned them and have recently even taken to expanding and strengthening their relations with one another. As of the year 2000, Germany numbers among the few states in the world to have set up diplomatic missions in both Seoul and P’yôngyang.