hankyoreh

Indonesia

By Park Byong-su, staff reporter in Phnom Penh

Observers are taking note of North Korean foreign minister Pak Ui-chun’s recent schedule of talks with ASEAN countries.

Pak, who arrived in Cambodia on July 11 for the Asian Regional Forum (ARF), is believed to have bilateral talks scheduled with six countries over the next two days. This contrasts sharply with last year, when North Korea’s only talks were with China and Russia.

On Wednesday morning, Pak had talks for a little over an hour with Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi at Phnom Penh’s Peace Palace, the site of the main ARF talks. He went on to a bilateral meeting with Myanmar’s foreign minister.

Sources said he was scheduled to meet for talks with the foreign ministers of ASEAN countries Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Cambodia through Thursday.

In the past, North Korea generally restricted its talks to China. For this reason, observers are saying Pak’s activities may indicate a new diplomatic strategy under the Kim Jong-un regime, one geared toward strengthening cooperation with ASEAN countries in an effort to break Pyongyang out of its international isolation.

North Korea has indeed been making special efforts in Southeast Asia lately. Kim Yong-nam, the chairman of its Supreme People’s Assembly presidium, visited Singapore and Indonesia in May to discuss economic cooperation. In June, Workers’ Party of Korea international secretary Kim Yong-il visited Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar.

South Korean government officials said Pyongyang appeared to be reaching out to Southeast Asia as a way of reducing its isolation.

“North Korea also could be attempting to reduce their dependence on China, which has deepened since economic aid from the US and South Korea was cut off,” said one official.

Indonesia, Singapore, and other ASEAN countries accounted for 10% to 20% of North Korea’s trade volume through the mid-2000s, but this percentage dropped to less than 2% in the wake of recent United Nations sanctions against Pyongyang.

Pak flew into Phnom Penh at 2 am Wednesday, but did not answer questions from reporters about plans for talks with the US. He also kept mum when leaving his lodgings just after 9 am for talks with China.

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