Iranian Parliament Speaker to visit DPRK (Postponed)

Ali Larijani, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, address the 3rd World Conference of Speakers of Parliament on 19 July 2010 in Geneva (Photo: Flickr/IPU Conference Page)

UPDATE

Ali Larijani’s visit to east Asia has been postponed and will be rescheduled.  CNN reports:

Ali Larijani’s trips were intended to promote parliamentary cooperation.

“The time for Larijani’s visit has changed and we will announce the new time when it is determined,” said Hijatoleslam Hossein Sobhaninya, a member of the presiding board of parliament, according to Mehr.

In May, a report compiled by a U.N. panel of experts looking into Security Council violations by North Korea found the country continues to trade banned weapons technology with several nations, including Iran.

 

Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Ali Larijani will visit the DPRK for three (3) days beginning on 6 September, prior to traveling to China.  ICANA reports:

Hossein Sheikholeslam, international affairs advisor to Larijani told ICANA on Saturday that the Majlis speaker will leave Tehran for Pyongyang on Sunday, September 5 and will stay there for three days.

Larijani’s two-nation tour of East Asia will also take him to Beijing where he will hold talks with Chinese parliamentary and political officials.

Sheikholeslam noted that Larijani’s tour of China and North Korea is aimed at further promotion of parliamentary cooperation and relations. He will also discuss the latest developments in the region with Chinese and DPRK officials.

News of Larijani’s visit occurred as the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung reported that the DPRK delivered simulation software and trained Iranian technicians during early 2011.  Reuters (via Jerusalem Post) reported:

The Sueddeutsche said the computer program, called Monte Carlo N-Particle Extended, or MCNPX 2.6.0., was used widely for civilian purposes but is subject to strict export controls because it can also be used to develop atomic bombs.

It is unclear how North Koreagot hold of the software.

The paper said a North Korean delegation travelled to Iran in February to train 20 Defense Ministry staff in the software.

The IAEA has voiced growing concern in the last year about possible military dimensions to Tehran’s nuclear program, saying it had received new informationincreasing such concerns.

On 21 July 2010, Larijani met SPA Chairman and CC KWP Secretary Choe Tae Bok (Choe T’ae-pok) on the sidelines of last year’s Conference of Speakers of Parliament held in Geneva.

DPRK Foreign Minister Meets with Iran Delegation at NAM

Pak U'i-ch'un (Pak Ui Chun), Minister of Foreign Affairs

KCNA reported 31 May on the return of Foreign Minister Pak U’i-ch’un (Pak Ui Chun) to the DPRK after attending the NAM [Non-aligned Movement] summit in Bali [Indonesia].  Jakarta Post reported about Pak’s meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi:

North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun looked confused, losing his way to the elevator after exiting the room where he had spoken with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi.

Journalists chased and barraged him with questions. Finally, Iranian officials escorted him out and he escaped on the elevator.

He refused to comment on what he had discussed with Salehi. Iranian officials confirmed that the two foreign ministers held bilateral talks on a number of issues.

“All I can tell you is that they met,” Ali Pahlevani Rad, a staffer at the Iranian embassy in Jakarta, told journalists outside the meeting room. on Thursday.

Both the Iranian and North Korean foreign ministers are in Bali to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) meeting, which ends on Friday.

While both sides were tightlipped, speculation arose on whether the two countries’ top diplomats discussed nuclear issues. When the Syrian senior diplomat later met with the Iranian minister, both were also reluctant to talk to the media.

Jakarta Post later reported Salehi’s denial that Pak and he discussed nuclear or technology exchanges or sanctions:

While confirming his meeting with his North Korean counterpart Pak Ui-chun on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) conference here on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi denied Friday that he has talked about suspected cooperation between Iran and North Korea on nuclear weapons and missile technology.

Separately, 120 NAM country members issued a statement calling for the total elimination of nuclear weapons after the four-day meeting.

“The ministers reiterated their deep concern about the threat to humanity posed by the continued existence of nuclear weapons and of their possible use or threat of use, and reaffirmed that nuclear disarmament remains the highest priority of the movement in the field of disarmament,” the NAM’s ministers said in their statement.

After meeting with Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, Salehi said that he had met with Pak, but denied that he and his North Korean counterpart had discussed exchange of nuclear weapon materials and missile technology.

“We just talked about economic cooperation,” Salehi said.

Marty said that he was unaware of the North Korea-Iran meeting. “In fact, I don’t have to know about that,” he said.

A recent report by a UN panel of experts said that North Korea appeared to have been sharing technology and expertise with Iran, which was a violation of sanctions.

Beijing blocked the publication of the review, which accused Pyongyang of breaching sanctions designed to tackle its nuclear weapon and missile programs, the Associated Press reported. “We refute such a report. We never break any regulations,” Salehi said.

The Guardian reported earlier that prohibited ballistic missile-related items were suspected to have been transferred on regular scheduled flights of Air Koryo and Iran Air, with trans-shipment through a neighboring third country. A number of UN diplomats accused that the third country was China.

KCNA reported about Pak’s meetings while he was in Indonesia:

DPRK Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun separately met and had talks with heads of Namibian, Iranian, Algerian and Cambodian delegations in Indonesia on May 26 and 27.

They are staying in this country to attend the meeting of foreign ministers of the non-aligned countries.

KCNA reported on 4 June that a new DPRK Ambassador to Indonesia was appointed:

Ri Jong Ryul was appointed as new DPRK ambassador to Indonesia, according to a decree of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People’s Assembly.

Choe Thae Bok talks Cheonan, meets Iran delegation at IPU Conference in Geneva

Supreme People's Assembly Chairman, Choe Thae Bok, speaks at the Third World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Geneva on 20 July 2010 (Photo: 3rd World Conference of Parliament Speakers)

SPA Chairman Choe Thae Bok used his remarks at the Third World Conference of Speakers of Parliament at the UN Geneva to fault the ROK for inciting tensions on the Korean Peninsula after the sinking of the Cheonan.  Choe, who is also the KWP International Secretary and an alternate member of the KWP Political Bureau (Politburo), “also claimed that the Cheonan had sunk during a U.S.-South Korea joint military drill.”

Chosun Ilbo reports:

A senior North Korean official condemned the South Korean government’s attempt to link Pyongyang to the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan in March, saying the actions are provoking conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

Speaking at the annual World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Geneva, Choe Thae-bok, chairman of the North’s Supreme People’s Assembly, argued that as a result of Seoul’s efforts to blame the sinking on the North, war clouds hang heavy over the peninsula.

Choe also claimed that the Cheonan had sunk during a U.S.-South Korea joint military drill. Pyongyang will not tolerate the U.S. and South Korea’s attempt to threaten the North’s existence and sovereignty, he added.

During the conference, Choe met with Ali Larijani, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament.   Larijani said the two countries “share common goals.”  Choe also invited Laranjani to visit the DPRK.  Iran’s state news agency reports:

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says Iran and North Korea are both revolutionary and independent nations trying to resist the world’s “greedy” powers.

Meeting with his North Korean counterpart on the sidelines of an Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) conference in Geneva on Wednesday, Larijani hailed staunch bilateral ties between the two nations and thanked the North for its contributions to Iran under late Korean leader Kim Il-sung, ISNA reported.

For his part, North Korean speaker Choe Thae Bok highlighted his country’s full support for the Islamic Republic and the common goal of fighting US imperialism.

The Korean official condemned US “accusations” concerning Iran’s nuclear program and denounced its move to send Tehran’s nuclear dossier to the UN Security Council as aimed at “troubling” the Islamic Republic.

KCNA reported on Choe Thae Bok’s interactions at the conference on 22 July:

Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People’s Congress, said that General Secretary Kim Jong Il’s visit to China in May contributed to boosting Sino-Korean friendship, pointing out that the two countries grandly celebrated the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries and held events marking the “year of China-DPRK friendship” in 2009, demonstrating the bilateral friendship.

He hoped that the party and government of the DPRK would achieve bigger successes under the leadership of Kim Jong Il.

Ricardo Alarcon, president of the National Assembly of People’s Power of Cuba, said that the relations between Cuba and the DPRK provided by Fidel Castro Ruz and President Kim Il Sung are growing stronger under the deep care of Raul Castro Ruz and Kim Jong Il.

The Cuban party and government will express invariable support and solidarity with the party and government of the DPRK, he declared.

Mahmoud Al-Abrashi, president of the People’s Assembly of Syria, said that they are thankful to the Korean people for extending support and solidarity to the Syrian people’s cause of justice, hoping that the two parliaments would closely cooperate with each other in the common struggle against the U.S. in the future, too, in keeping with the friendly relations between the two countries developing on good terms.

Demberel Damdin, chairman of the State Great Hural of Mongolia, expressed the willingness to enhance the parliamentary role in boosting the bilateral relations.

Meira Kumar, speaker of the Lok Sabha of India, said that India and the DPRK have contributed to the strengthening of the Non-Aligned Movement, declaring the willingness to exert efforts to develop the relations between the two parliaments.

KCNA reported on Choe’s speech to the conference on 23 July:

Under the uplifted banner of independence, peace and friendship the DPRK will as ever develop the friendly and cooperative relations with all countries which respect the sovereignty of the DPRK and are friendly towards it, irrespective of differences in ideology and ism and system.

We will vigorously accelerate the building of an economic power in reliance on the solid foundation of the independent national economy and positively develop the economic cooperation with other countries on the principle of equality and reciprocity.

The Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK will make positive contributions to establishing a just and democratic international society fully representing the will of the absolute majority of the people in the world and thus fulfill its mission and duty as a full-fledged member of the IPU.

New NK Diplorep to Iran

North Korean diplorep Jo In Chol (left) meeting with the former Thailand Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai in 2003 (Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand)

Yonhap reports that the DPRK has appointed Jo In Chol as its new ambassador to its close ally Iran.  Jo In Chol was recently the country’s ambassador to Thailand and the Phillipines.  SPA President Kim Yong-nam will likely visit Iran this summer.  Iran also publicly invited KJI to visit Tehran, after he returned from China in May.

Information on Jo was scarce. He headed a department in charge of protocol at the North’s foreign ministry for over two years until his latest appointment. A graduate of a top North Korean language institute, he accompanied the communist state’s nominal state head, Kim Yong-nam, when he visited Bangkok in 2002 to forge a trade agreement.

Iran and North Korea set up diplomatic relations in 1973. Western countries have accused the two of trading missile and nuclear parts and technology for decades, threatening non-proliferation efforts headed by the United States.

Jo In Chol is replacing So Se-pyong who was appointed the country’s ambassador to Switzerland and UN Mission Geneva in April of this year.  So replaced Ri Chol, KJI’s confidante and diplorep underboss in the EU who returned to Pyongyang.

Kim Yong Nam to Visit Iran in Summer ’10

Kim Yong Nam

Iran’s state news agency has announced that SPA President Kim Yong Nam will visit Iran in June or July this summer.

“This high-ranking official is expected to visit in two or three months,” Iranian foreign ministry’s Asia affairs head Mohammad Ali Fathollahi told IRNA.

He did not offer details of the visit, but Yong-Nam’s trip assumes significance as Iran and North Korea have both been accused by Western nations of flouting UN Security Council regulations over their nuclear programmes.

Meanwhile, KCNA reported that an Iranian delegation arrived in Pyongyang on 21 April:

A delegation of the Foreign Ministry of Iran led by Vice-Minister Mohammad Ali Fathollahi arrived here by air on Wednesday.

NK Ambassador To Switzerland Appointed

New DPRK Ambassador to Switzerland, So Se Phyong (left) in his previous position as DPRK Ambassador to Iran

Ri Chol’s replacement as DPRK Ambassador to Switzerland has been appointed.  So Se Phyong has been appointed as Ri’s replacement in Berne.  Ambassador So was previously the country’s ambassador to Iran, appointed in November 2008.

It is not clear where Ri Chol is going from here.  A commentary published last week in a Hong Kong newspaper contends that Ri Chol has returned to Pyongyang to play an unknown role in Kim Jong Un’s succession campaign.  On the other hand, I am told he has returned to Kim Jong Il’s Personal Secretariat.