Jonathan Katzenellenbogen, I-Net Bridge
16 March 2005
Johannesburg — THE vice-president of North Korea, one of the world's most secretive countries, arrives in SA today on a five-day official visit.
According to the foreign affairs department, Vice-President Yang Hyong Sop will be accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Su Hon and trade ministry director-general Hong Chang Il.
The vice-president will sign an agreement with his host, Deputy President Jacob Zuma, on the holding of regular diplomatic consultations, a source said yesterday. He will visit minerals research body Mintek and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
The value of SA's trade with North Korea, which has few international economic ties, dropped to a little more than R1,5m, from R86m in 2002. Last year SA imported R1m in goods and exported about R500000 to North Korea. The foreign affairs department said yesterday SA had no weapons trade with the reclusive state.
South African exports to North Korea consist mainly of mineral and chemical products as well as prepared foodstuffs, whilst imports consist mainly of textiles and base metals.
Talks are expected to cover bilateral political and economic relations, as well as the operation of the organs of the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa's Development as the socio-economic programme of the continent.
Zuma will brief his counterpart on peacekeeping and conflict resolution in Africa, including in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire and Sudan, the department said.
The delegation will also visit the CSIR, the Cullinan mine, the Apartheid Museum, the Hector Pieterson Memorial, and former president Nelson Mandela's home in Soweto.
Mamoepa reported that bilateral trade relations between the two countries were limited.
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