‘Why we want Nigeria to back sanction regime against North Korea’
His Excellency, Mr. Noh Kyoduk, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) to Nigeria spoke to journalists in Abuja this week about his countries business, social and economic ties with Nigeria, as well as what he expects from Nigeria in terms of implementing new sanction regimes against North Korea. Excerpts The relationship between South […]
His Excellency, Mr. Noh Kyoduk, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) to Nigeria spoke to journalists in Abuja this week about his countries business, social and economic ties with Nigeria, as well as what he expects from Nigeria in terms of implementing new sanction regimes against North Korea. Excerpts
The relationship between South Korea and Nigeria is mostly business oriented but considering that you have a sound education system. How do propose to work with Nigeria in this regards, especially in terms of knowledge and technology sharing?
From time to time I visit the universities in Nigeria and the students ask me the same thing. But all the knowledge were acquired through the investment and research by corporate, private sector so the Korean government cannot control or have the private sector transfer their knowledge to Nigeria because those research are acquired by them through a lot of investment. The technology is their asset and if they share that with others, other companies can produce the same product and the competition will be gone. I think transfer of knowledge is a bit different with development cooperation; you have to understand that point. When we tried to develop our own economy the most difficult part was acquiring new technology. Nobody was willing to help. So we tried very hard and set up our research institutes where Korean companies are now rich enough to set up their own research institutes but the first time the Korean government first set up research institutes in the country was only in the 1970s and by the early ‘80s when the Korean companies became richer by exporting a lot of products they set up theirs. That is the investment. So through that corporate research institutes, they have made a lot of inventions and created patents. And through the ‘90s and 2000s, they were still investing in these institutes and in research and development. So if the two countries’relationship develops further, there is a possibility for the corporate organisations to transfer some of the technology to their counterparts here. But you cannot force them to do so.
Concerning tensions between the two Koreas, there has been a new UN resolution bringing a new sanction regime against North Korea for its recent nuclear tests. Why are you so anxious about North Korea despite your strong economy?
We are taking this nuclear issue very seriously for the security of my country, you understand? We have a strong economy. We have the bigger economy than North Korea but in terms of nuclear weapons, we don’t have anything but they do. We do not know if they have accomplished the militarization of the Nuclear warhead but still they are developing it and the United Nations is trying to stop them through these sanctions.
North Korea has always been under sanctions anyway. So what will likely happen if these sanctions fail, as they have been failing in the last 50 years?
Putting pressure through sanction is not our final goal. The goal we are trying to achieve to sanctions is bringing North Koreans to the negotiating table. The Weapons of Mass Destruction programme of North Korea can be resolved through diplomatic means, through dialogue. We cannot resolve these issues through military means because it is not possible. We are trying hard but this time the UN Resolution 2270 has a lot of very strong clauses. So we hope that through this new sanction regime, North Korea will realise that they have to rethink and change their policy of developing WMD. That is our goal. We don’t want to topple the North Korean regime or change the regime in that country. We just want to resolve this WMD issue through dialogue.
In what way can Nigeria contribute to . . .?
Nigeria is a very responsible member of the international community. Up till last year, Nigeria was a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and it is a leader country on the African continent. So I think the Nigerian government will faithfully implement this Security Council Resolution 2270. Very faithfully, I believe. And if you look at the resolution, you will see that all member nations are supposed to submit an implementation report to the Security Council within 90 days of adopting the resolution. So I think and believe that the Nigerian government will do so.
Relating to economic ties between Nigeria and Korean what sectors are you interested in partnering with Nigeria in terms of reforms and exchange?
The trade relations are done by the corporate companies. By the private sector but to promote the economic corporations, my government is trying to encourage Korean companies to come to Nigeria and find business opportunities. So if it is necessary to bring in delegations for consultations with business partners in Nigeria, we will do so. Also we will like to persuade some Korean companies to invest in the areas of power plants because you are suffering from shortage of electricity so power plant is a major area. Myself, my embassy, my government is trying to encourage Korean companies to look at Nigeria as a serious business partner and a very promising land for investment. But the final decision is up to them. Government cannot do anything. We are trying to promote these interests between Korean and Nigerian companies.