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 hard-line 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.