A Change of Guard

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Thursday 4 August 2011

Sam Rainsy criticised Cambodia-North Korean cooperation


By Khmerization
Source: RFA

The Cambodian opposition has strongly criticised a trade agreement between Cambodia and N. Korea, which was signed last week. The signed a cooperation deal covers trades, agriculture and investments.

Cambodian officials hope that, under the agreement, N. Korea will become a market for Cambodian agricultural products such as corns, cassava and beans. In exchange, Cambodia will import agricultural machinery from N. Korea.

Mr. Sam Rainsy (pictured), the leader of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), has criticised the deal, saying Cambodia should consider human rights as a priority before seeking any benefits from North Korea. "We have principles of respecting human rights, respecting democratic values that we have an obligation to the world. So, we cannot cooperate with a thief and an international criminal. Some countries are involved in weapon-smuggling, in drug trafficking and in illegal printing of money (counterfeiting). North Korea has involved in international crimes, so it is regrettable if any countries are linked to a country like North Korea", he said.

Leaked U.S diplomatic cables, published by WikiLeaks, has revealed that Cambodia has recently become an easy escape route for North Korean defectors.

Despite the criticism from the opposition, the deal has support from an unlikely Cambodian political analyst. Dr. Lao Mong Hay.

Dr. Lao Mong Hay, told RFA on Tuesday 2nd August that Cambodia's cooperation with North Korea will not tarnish Cambodia's human rights reputation as many countries in the region have also had close cooperation with North Korea. "On the issue of human rights, we must think about our house first. If our house is not clean, it is very difficult for us to use our influence to help others in the field of human rights and only a very small number of countries in the world that put human rights in the foreign policies of their countries", he said.

Cambodia's cosy relationship with North Korea had begun in the 1960s between Ex-King Sihanouk and the North Korean dictator Kim Il-sung and the legacy of that close relationship had continued until today by the present Cambodian government and Kim Il-sung's son, Kim Jong-il.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is nothing wrong dealing with N. Korea; however Cambodia should becareful to avoid any issue with USA. China has been dealing with them many years and they made alot money

Anonymous said...

Mr. Sam Rainsy is certainly out of his mind on this one. This is what I call lacking political shrewdness.

The question to Mr. Sam Rainsy is this:

If North Korea decides to help train Cambodian physicians and also helps with medical equipment, should Cambodia accept them?

Or North Korea decides to give us their old weapons the same way China did, should we say "No" to it because North Korea does not respect human rights?

Perhaps Cambodia should not trade with China or any countries, for the same reason, that trade with North Korea if we are so adamant about taking a stand on human rights. Are we so enthusiastic about human right protection that we go out of our way to make sure that the world has no human right abuses?

Don't just criticize for the sake of criticism or you will lose your credibility in no time.

Anet Khmer

Anonymous said...

You got to be out of your mind man. Cambodia needs to do business like China. Who are we to judge other on human rights? Cambodia needs jobs and economic development. If N. Korea came as friend and want to do business; the money is green. Sometime, I feel like Sam Rainsy is out of touch from the real world. Should we stop dealing with China, Burma, Vietnam, and others? They all have record of human right violation.

Anonymous said...

This Sam Rainsy guy was also one of the reason why including Hun Sen that Cambodia can never have a Miss.Cambodia compete in Miss.Universe! Shame on them not allowing Khmer's to showcase their beauty, culture and country and still be unknown to the rest of the world!!!!

Anonymous said...

Shit!!! Before this criticism, tell the US about Thai human right abuse on your own nation mates....

Anonymous said...

Doing business with N. Korea is o.k, but there is limit in going about doing business with a mafia state. The western world, especially the U.S,has warned other nations to be cautious in dealing with N. Korea for the simple fact that they are concerned that N. Korea will transfer its nuclear expertise to other rogue nations and eventually those expertise will fall in the hands of terrorists.
After reading the agreement, Cambodia will sell agricultural products to N. Korea in exchange for machinery, not cash. This is a barter economy, not trade as we know it. What machery do Cambodia and N. Korea have in mind, military hardware and weapons? This is what America is very wary about.

Anonymous said...

I like to comment regarding Thailand human right violation. I never seen Sam Rainsy tell USA about Thailand killing Khmer civillians. Thailand probably th worse on human right record. Ask Burmese, Vietnam, Loas and Cambodia how much Thai's soldiers killed their refugees and civillians.

Anonymous said...

SR barking all day/night but no body care