Reuters
PHNOM PENH: Cambodia and North Korea signed a trade and investment deal on Thursday during a visit by Kim Yong-il, Prime Minister of the reclusive communist state.
The pact, which has been in the pipeline for several months, was initiated at the request of Pyongyang, whose limited trade with the outside world was cut further last year by United Nations sanctions imposed after its October 2006 nuclear test.
“This visit aims to strengthen our economic and trade relations with North Korea from now on,” Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters earlier in the day. Cambodian officials have compared North Korea’s isolation to that imposed on Cambodia from 1975-79 by Pol Pot’s ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge regime and during the subsequent Vietnamese occupation, and said cutting countries off was ultimately counterproductive.
The United States and other major powers have tried to limit North Korea’s trade with the outside world. Tokyo has imposed its own sanctions in response to issues such as Pyongyang’s abduction of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s.
Cambodia is a rare friend in Southeast Asia due mainly to former King Sihanouk’s close friendship with North Korean founding father Kim Il-sung.
Sihanouk, whose playboy reputation and royal credentials did not appear to clash with Kim’s austere and rigidly communist outlook, still has a palace in Pyongyang and his personal bodyguards are all North Korean.
Kim Yong-il’s schedule during his Nov. 1-4 visit to Phnom Penh includes an audience with Sihanouk on Friday and a weekend visit to the famed 800-year-old Angkor Wat temples.
The pact, which has been in the pipeline for several months, was initiated at the request of Pyongyang, whose limited trade with the outside world was cut further last year by United Nations sanctions imposed after its October 2006 nuclear test.
“This visit aims to strengthen our economic and trade relations with North Korea from now on,” Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters earlier in the day. Cambodian officials have compared North Korea’s isolation to that imposed on Cambodia from 1975-79 by Pol Pot’s ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge regime and during the subsequent Vietnamese occupation, and said cutting countries off was ultimately counterproductive.
The United States and other major powers have tried to limit North Korea’s trade with the outside world. Tokyo has imposed its own sanctions in response to issues such as Pyongyang’s abduction of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s.
Cambodia is a rare friend in Southeast Asia due mainly to former King Sihanouk’s close friendship with North Korean founding father Kim Il-sung.
Sihanouk, whose playboy reputation and royal credentials did not appear to clash with Kim’s austere and rigidly communist outlook, still has a palace in Pyongyang and his personal bodyguards are all North Korean.
Kim Yong-il’s schedule during his Nov. 1-4 visit to Phnom Penh includes an audience with Sihanouk on Friday and a weekend visit to the famed 800-year-old Angkor Wat temples.
3 comments:
What I tell you? the damn corrupted evil UN is the one that does the most damages to civilization. What they needed is a serious serious reform.
"the damn corrupted evil UN is the one that does the most damages to civilization."
What about the UN that help bring peace and stability to Cambodia?
Well, actually, I don't give the UN that much credit for it, most of them are total idiots. Keep, in mind, our country failed in the 70's because the UN failed to do its job in the first place. Thus, I give our people most of the credits for all the works to bring peace in Cambodia instead, and I condemn those who exploited our efforts for their own political gain.
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