| Filetype: | svg |
| Mission1: | Afghan Embassy, Seoul |
| Mission2: | South Korean Embassy, Kabul (closed) |
| Flagvariant1: | 2013 |
Bilateral relations between South Korea and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan began in 1973 and have effectively been non-existent since the Taliban gained control of Kabul and much of the rest of Afghanistan in August 2021.[1]
On September 17, 1978, Afghanistan's pro-Soviet Khalq government announced that it would break off relations and instead recognize only the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). A North Korean delegation visited Afghanistan in October 1978.[2]
South Korea was engaged in helping Afghanistan recover from years of civil war in the 2000s and 2010s. South Korea has an embassy in Kabul. Afghanistan established its embassy in Seoul in 2004.
In 2007, the Taliban taking hostage 23 South Korean missionaries in Afghanistan received much attention.[3] The Taliban extremists killed two of the abducted missionaries on 25 and 30 July[4] and promised to release the rest of the team only when Seoul promised to stick to the planned withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of 2007.[5]