N. Korea's senior official visits Vietnam, Laos in efforts to break through int'l. isolation

  • 8 years ago
Seoul is stepping up efforts to isolate North Korea in the international community for its nuclear provocations.
And North Korea appears to be feeling the pressure,... so it's doing what it can to maintain ties abroad.
Connie Kim reports.
South Korea views the foreign ministers' meeting between Seoul and Havana as significant, as the two countries have not had any diplomatic relations since the Cuban Revolution in 1959.
Seoul's Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se sat down with his counterpart Bruno Rodriguez on Monday on the sidelines of the summit of the Association of Caribbean States, laying a foundation for mending their severed bilateral relations.


"The hosting of the South Korea-Cuba foreign ministers' meeting itself was meaningul and has become an opportunity to improve bilateral relations. The discussions are believed to have expanded cooperation and strengthened diplomacy in Latin America and the Caribbean."

Seoul's efforts to strengthen its ties with Havana are part of South Korea's plans to further isolate North Korea in the international community.
Uganda's promise to suspend all military cooperation with its longtime ally Pyongyang,... after a visit to the country by the South Korean president, is billed as a crucial achievement in cornering the North.

North Korea, for its part, seems to be doing its best to maintain ties with communist states.
High-level North Korean officials have recently flown to Equatorial Guinea, Cuba and China to meet with presidents and high ranking officials.
North Korea's Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday... the vice chairman of the ruling Workers' Party's central committee,... Choe Tae-bok,... arrived in Laos after meeting with a senior official in Vietnam.


"South Korea's foreign minister will meet with his Russian counterpart in Moscow next week, as part of ongoing efforts to pressure North Korea. The two will discuss the regime's nuclear weapons program,... as well as ways to boost bilateral ties between Seoul

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