Uganda to stop security co-operation with North Korea

Uganda promised to halt military cooperation with old ally North Korea after a visit to Kampala by South Korean President Park Geun-Hye on Sunday. Since then, North Korea has mainly provided Uganda with support services, such as training and arms maintenance. “We have a bilateral framework agreement with several countries which are revised, adjusted and cancelled regularly”.

South Korea, on Friday, called for Africa’s support against North Korea’s nuclear programme, calling it “a serious security threat”.

Looking to boost tourism and spread Korean culture further across the globe, Korea has begun constructing a huge theme park to showcase everything Korean, from entertainment to cuisine, all housed in one massive complex named “K-Culture Valley”.

Kim said Uganda appeared to have made a decision to cut its security cooperation with the North because it values more substantial exchanges with the South, including a defense cooperation memorandum of understanding signed during Park’s visit.

(AP Photo/Stephen Wandera). South Korea’s president Park Geun-hye, left, walks with Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, right, at State House in Entebbe, Uganda Sunday, May 29, 2016.

Kutesa was responding to a question on whether the government would continue working with North Korea which has been offering military and police training to Uganda, reported the Daily Monitor. Economic cooperation with the South also played a key role, he said.

South Korea’s president arrived in Uganda Saturday, the second leg of her Africa tour during which she is promoting business and trade opportunities.

The policy shift comes after the recent visit to Kampala of South Korean President Park Geun Hye.

At the summit, Park requested Museveni to join the global community’s efforts to end North Korea’s nuclear program, saying it not only threatens the Korean Peninsula but also the entire world.

Museveni, in power since 1986, previously praised Pyongyang as an exemplar of the fight against what he described as Western imperialism. Chinese contractors are involved in road construction in Uganda and the Chinese national oil company has invested in Uganda’s oil sector.

Park’s next stop is Kenya.