The Korea Herald

피터빈트

Cambodia supports N.K. denuclearization, pledges to enforce U.N. sanctions

By KH디지털2

Published : March 10, 2016 - 10:40

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Cambodia has reaffirmed its opposition to North Korea's possession of nuclear arms and pledged to "faithfully" enforce newly adopted U.N. sanctions on the isolated regime, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam and Long Visalo, secretary of state at Cambodia's Foreign Ministry, held a bilateral joint committee meeting in Cambodia on Wednesday to discuss cooperation in diplomacy, trade, business, rural development and other areas.

The senior-level meeting was held for the first time in six years as a follow up to a bilateral summit in December 2014 where President Park Geun-hye and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen agreed to bolster cooperation in various areas.

At the council meeting, Lim called on Cambodia to support the efforts to cut the North's access to hard currency and curb its nuclear program via thorough implementation of the new U.N. Security Council sanctions that aim to punish the North for its recent nuclear and rocket tests.

Visalo pledged his country's support for the efforts, the ministry said in a press release.

Noting their efforts to establish their military attache offices in each other's countries, the two sides agreed to deepen cooperation in diplomatic and security areas.

Cambodia already established its military attache office in Seoul in August while Korea plans to open its office in August this year. To further strengthen diplomatic ties, Seoul also plans to open a consulate in Siem Reap in northwestern Cambodia.

Lim and Visalo also took note of the plan to hold an inaugural session of the two countries' Joint Economic Committee in Seoul sometime this year and agreed to make efforts to bolster bilateral trade and investment.

The economic committee was launched last November to strengthen their economic cooperation at national, regional and global levels.

The trade volume between the two countries reached $840 million in 2014, according to data from the Korea International Trade Association.

The two sides also agreed to strengthen cooperation in Cambodia's rural and regional development program. (Yonhap)