Museveni hails relations with North Korea, urges on unification with South

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According to a statement by State House, President Museveni hailed the long term relationship between Uganda and North Korea, and noted that the latter “have helped us for a long time.”

KAMPALA:
President Museveni has urged the visiting North Korea head of State to work towards re-uniting the two Koreas. North Korea and South Korea became separate states during the Second World War and have remained technically at war since then, with constant fears of possible outbreak of war preoccupying the two countries and their allies for years.

At a meeting held Thursday with the President of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Yong Nam at State House in Entebbe, Mr Museveni, said he “looks forward to unification of Korea peninsula.”

Mr Nam, who arrived on Wednesday, is on a four days working visit to Uganda.

According to a statement by State House, President Museveni hailed the long term relationship between Uganda and North Korea, and noted that the latter “have helped us for a long time.”

“Our North Korea friends helped us in a number of areas. The first tank force in Uganda was helped by the DPRK. It trained our first group of army personnel in this field,” he said, adding that there is no problem in bilateral relations between the two countries.

Mr Museveni further indicated that the relations date back to the anti-colonial movement and since them, North Korea has been facilitating Ugandan pilots.

The DPRK leader indicated that the central aim of his visit to the East African country is to deepen bilateral relations between the two countries.

Mr Nam, who last visited in 2008, also pointed out the recent political turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East as of concern and said the situation deserves particular attention.

He also called on the non- aligned movement member countries to unite in order to overcome what he called domination by the Western Powers and further proposed that the hosting of the Non-Aligned Movement should rotate from one continent to another.

The meeting was attended by the Foreign Affairs minister in charge of Regional Cooperation, Mr Asuman Kiyingi.

Mr Museveni has previously lashed out at his critics over dealings with, specifically the military and security hardware.
Uganda and Tanzania were early this year probed by the UN over arms-related dealings with North Korea, which is under sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council.

Authorities in Kampala hit back at the investigators, saying the international community had no right to dictate on who they relate with.

Besides training with the military, North Korea also trains Ugandan Police officers. Recent reports suggested that Uganda was buying anti-riot gas and gear from the Asian country.

In 2013 North Korea provided military support to Uganda in terms of both loans and ammunition. In 1987, it gave the military a $4million loan and also sent 40 military advisors to Uganda, according to a recent report by the EastAfrican.

Also in 1989, President Museveni exchanged coffee and cotton for weapons from DPRK.

In a demonstration of Uganda’s resolve to deal with the two Koreas, however, the country also remains a trading partner of South Korea.