{UAH} Classic M7: Museveni ends North Korea military cooperation

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Museveni meeting with South Korean President Park Geun-hye at State House Entebbe on Sunday

By: Giles Muhame

•  May 29,2016
•  102 Viewed
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President Yoweri Museveni vowed Sunday to cut off his country's security and military cooperation with North Korea, a move being seen as aimed at consolidating business ties with one of the fastest developing countries in the world.

The development also comes high on the heels of intense international pressure on Pyongyang over its nuclear program activities.

"I have instructed officials to faithfully enforce the U.N. Security Council resolution, including suspension of cooperation with North Korea in the security, military and police sectors," Museveni said in a summit with his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye.

This was revealed by South Korean presidential spokesman Jeong Yeon-guk in a press briefing on Sunday.

North Korea recently launched a long-range rocket and nuclear test early this year, attracting severe sanctions from United Nations and United States.

At Entebbe, Park received a 21-gun salute, held bilateral talks with her host and ministers from both countries signed MoUs of cooperation in 10 different areas; foreign affairs, ICT, rural development, defence, healthcare, energy, agriculture, social welfare, community credit cooperatives and science and technology.

Museveni's concession underlines a major shift in his foreign policy in his last term of office.

With growing levels of youth unemployment and low foreign exchange mainly due to the conflict in South Sudan, Museveni is eager to partner with wealthy countries to attract foreign direct investment and tap into their markets.

It will be recalled that after taking power in 1986, Museveni, initially set up strong ties with North Korea as he visited Pyongyang three times in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

State Defence Minister Jeje Odong receives an MoU from a Korean official at State House

In 2014, President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Republic of North Korea H.E Kim Yong Nam arrived in Uganda for a four day working visit.

He held talks with President Museveni before signing of Memorandum of understanding between the two governments.

North Korea helped train Uganda Police's elite combat unit at Kabalye recently.

The areas of cooperation between North Korea and Uganda include basic training in martial arts of officers and constables, which has greatly improved their personal qualities and skills in policing; specialized training of the Police Marine Unit, as well as provision of medical expertise.

Uganda Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa and a Korean official exchange MoU's on bilateral cooperation

Museveni's u-turn could have been informed by the realisation that relations between Uganda and North Korea were denying his country a chance to tap opportunities in the South Korean markets.

Meeting his counterpart today, Museveni assured that Uganda is on the same page with South Korea and the international community hence isolating North Korea.

It is thought about 50 North Korean military and police personnel are operating from Uganda, raising fears if they will be deported.

On her part, Park expressed confidence that her meeting with Museveni would serve as a good opportunity to boost friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

Park is the first South Korean president to visit Uganda since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1963.

Museveni meeting with Korean officials at Entebbe

Ties

President Museveni saluted the Korean people whom he said have, within a period of just 60 years, risen from destitution and poverty to the 28th richest country in the world today in terms of the size of the GDP and GDP per capita.

"The Korean people were able to achieve this on account of discipline, hard work and the development of the human resource through education.  Your father, General Park Chung Hee, played a decisive role in that transformation," said Museveni.

The Korean people are an ancient people whose specific identity can be traced as far back as 1392.

The nation was divided at the end of the World War II.

The African patriots, said Museveni, always support the peaceful reunification of the Korean nation.

The President stressed that Uganda is undergoing socio-economic transformation through universal education, the modernization of infrastructure and the modernization of agriculture.

"With improved infrastructure, we are now able to address the issues of industrialization, the modernization of services and the development of ICT," said Museveni.

"There is a great potential for co-operation between South Korea and Uganda for the mutual benefit of both countries.  We can buy from and sell to one another.  Uganda, with a population of 38 million people, that will be about 100 million by 2050, is, moreover, part of the huge African continent with a current population of 1.25 billion people.  By 2050, the population of the African continent will be 2.5 billion people."

First Lady Janet Museveni also graced the dinner

South Korea is part of the huge Asian continent and its population of 4.4billion people.

The potential for the two areas remains huge.

Uganda is the second stop after Ethiopia on Park's swing through Africa.

The trip is set to take her to Nairobi on Monday for talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta and later France.

 

*A positive mind is a courageous mind, without doubts and fears, using the experience and wisdom to give the best of him/herself.

 

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The only way of limiting the usurpation of power by
 individuals, the military or otherwise, is to put the people in charge  - Capt. Thomas. Sankara {RIP} '1949-1987

 *"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent

revolution inevitable"**…  *J.F Kennedy

 

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