North Korean leader to visit

By Cheang Sokha
Phnom Penh Post, Issue 16 / 21, October 19 - November 1, 2007

Responding to an invitation from Prime Minister Hun Sen, North Korea's premier Kim Yong Il will visit Cambodia. Although few details about the leader's plans were announced, Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh said he expects the two countries to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on investment during the November 1-4 visit.

Prasidh said the agreement would open the door for more trade between North Korea and Cambodia.

North Korea has potential in cement and fertilizer, both needed in Cambodia. Prasidh said Cambodian investors will consider the opportunity to invest in these sectors for import to Cambodia.

"I hope we will attract North Korea to invest in Cambodia," said Prasidh, who is also vice president of the Council for the Development of Cambodia "So far both countries have no investment in each other."

An official of the Embassy of North Korea could not be reached for comment.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kim Yong Il will meet with the King Father Norodom Sihanouk, who has maintained a personal relationship with the North Koreans since the 1970s when he was ejected from power and stayed for long periods at a residence in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. His bodyguards are all provided by North Korea. The King Father last visited Pyongyang with the Queen in March 2006, according to the Cambodian embassy in North Korea.

Kim Yong Il also will have official discussions with Prime Minister Hun Sen and will meet Chea Sim, the president of the Senate, and Heng Samrin, the head of the National Assembly. Because Cambodia maintains relations with both Koreas, a year ago in the wake of the disclosure by North Korea that it had conducted new nuclear tests, Seoul asked Cambodia to help mediate with North Korea for peace on the peninsula.

In 2001, North Korea's No. 2 leader Kim Yong Nam, made a four day official visit to Cambodia with a 40 member delegation at Sihanouk's invitation.

North Korea is also sending observers to Cambodia in late November to learn about competition for disabled volleyball athletes. The North Koreans were not expected to play in the Cambodian National Volleyball League/Disabled tournament to be held from November 24 to December 1, but were expected to observe so they can start their own program.

NKorea seeks market access through Cambodian investments: minister [-In poverty we unite!]

This file photo shows Cambodian Minister of Commerce, Cham Prasidh, gesturing during a press conference in Siem Reap. North Korea is seeking access to world markets through investing in Cambodia, Prasidh said Wednesday, adding that the two countries would ink their first trade deal next month.

Wednesday • October 17, 2007
AFP

North Korea is seeking access to world markets through investing in Cambodia, a top Cambodian minister said Wednesday, adding that the two countries would ink their first trade deal next month.

"Through investment, North Korea may see Cambodia as a bridge by which to produce goods and export to bigger countries," Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh said, speaking at the launch of the UN-sponsored 2007 world investment report.

"Why is North Korea thinking ... to secure an exit door to the world through Cambodia? Because maybe we are the only ones here that can offer such an opportunity," he added.

Cambodia is one of a few countries to maintain diplomatic ties with isolated North Korea, and it has been tapped in the past to ferry messages between Seoul and Pyongyang aimed at improving relations.

Cham Prasidh said Cambodia has not finalised any projects in North Korea, and investment between the two impoverished countries currently stands at "zero."

He also criticised a hardline approach to the reclusive communist state, which has come under intense international pressure -- spearheaded by the United States -- over alleged rights abuses and its nuclear ambitions.

Among the sanctions imposed are bans on imports from North Korea, including money-making produce such as clams, crabs and high-end matsutake mushrooms.

"I believe the western approach to dealing with North Korea so far has been the wrong approach," he said.

"If you don't offer (North Korea) an exit, a way to live and air to breath, they are going to fight. ... You want them to be peaceful, provide them an opportunity to develop the country," he added.

North Korea's Prime Minister Kim Yong-Il is expected to meet with Prime Minister Hun Sen and other senior government leaders during a four-day official visit to Cambodia that begins November 1.

The communist leader will also call on former king Norodom Sihanouk, a long-time friend of North Korea who frequently stays in a palace in Pyongyang provided to him by the North's first leader, Kim Il-Sung.