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SUBJECT [Jun 17] Japan seeks cooperation from Mongolia in issues of abduction by North Korea; Hungary to support Cambodia on EBA
DATE 2019-06-17
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PHOTO: PRP Channel. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono (left); Mongolian Foreign Minister Damdin Tsogtbaatar (right)

 

On Sunday, June 16th, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and the Mongolian Foreign Minister Damdin Tsogtbaatar held talks in Ulaanbaatar, discussing matters of past abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea. As of now, Japan officially lists 17 people as victims of the abduction and suspects North Korea for other disappearances of its people.

 

While Japan has absolutely no diplomatic ties with North Korea, Mongolia has managed to maintain friendly ties with North Korea, which is why Japan has often looked to Mongolia to act as a mediator.

 

Kono told Tsogtbaatar that Japan would like to hold a summit with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and has no preconditions for the meeting, if it were to happen. This is different from what Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has stated in the past, as his previous statement addressed that any summit should yield progress on the abduction issue.

 

During the talk, the two ministers came upon an agreement that there is absolute importance of fully implementing U.N. sanctions against North Korea to abandon its nuclear and missile programs. After Kono stated that Japan and Mongolia are strategic partners sharing universal values, Tsogtbaatar agreed to deepen the ties between the nations as well as cooperating to Japan’s need.

 

Kono will return to Japan on Monday.

 

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/06/16/national/politics-diplomacy/japan-seeks-cooperation-mongolia-north-korean-abduction-issue-denuclearization/#.XQbk700UmmQ

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20190616_17/

 

 

 

PHOTO: Samaun An Khoun. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen with his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orban

 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told the Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen that Hungary will “always stand by Cambodia” as the Kingdom is fighting to preserve its access to the European Union’s Everything But Arms (EBA) agreement.

 

Adopted by the European Union Council in 2001, the EBA allows the importation of all kinds of good from Least Developed Countries except arms into EU countries, both duty free and quota free. EBA provides a lot of benefits for Cambodia, especially to the agriculture industry. In the last couple of years, Cambodia has significantly increased their rice export to the EU as well as their garments exported to the EU.

 

Hun Sen attended the fifth Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Tajikistan that ran from Thursday to Saturday and met with top politicians in the Hungarian capital, such as the Hungarian President Janos Ader and the Speaker of the National Assembly Laszlo Kover.

 

The three leaders of Hungary expressed their support for Cambodia in regards to the EBA, saying that Cambodia must be given justice by the European Union. They believe the EBA issue was a disagreement between the EU and Cambodia.

 

In February, the EU launched a six-month period of intensive monitoring to decide whether or not Cambodia should lose its EBA trade status. The monitoring process is set to conclude in mid-August, with a report on its findings to be released soon after. Then Cambodia will have up to one month to respond to the EU’s findings.

 

After a visit to the Kingdom on June 10th, the European Commission highlighted concerns regarding the violation and the potential violation of freedom of expression, political right and dispossession of families due to economic land concessions.

 

The president of the Royal Academy of Cambodia, Sok Touch, said that while Cambodia must show the EU that it does not wish to lose its access to the EBA, it also has to make it clear that it could not accept anything that will affect its sovereignty.

 

Cambodia is known to be the second largest beneficiary of the EBA trade preferences, accounting for over 18 percent of all imports coming into the EU market in 2018.

 

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50614459/hungary-vows-to-support-cambodia-on-eba/

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50614727/hungary-to-support-cambodia-in-eba-scheme-saga-ministry/

https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hungarys-orban-vows-support-eba-access

https://www.moc.gov.kh/en-us/faqs/catid/5/contentid/14

 

By MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr)