Iran president opposes North Korea's nuke program
By Kang Seung-woo
President Park Geun-hye talks with her Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani during a welcoming ceremony for Park held at the Saadabad Palace in Tehran, Monday. / Yonhap
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said after a summit with President Park Geun-hye in Tehran, Monday, that he supports denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, indicating that he opposes North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
On the sidelines of the summit, the two countries signed 66 memoranda of understanding that could lead to contracts worth $37.1 billion to revitalize Iran’s economy, stunted by international sanctions.
The summit was the first meeting between leaders of the two nations since they established diplomatic relations in 1962.
“We want changes on the Korean Peninsula and we are, in principle, opposed to any nuclear development,” Rouhani said in a joint press conference with Park at Saadabad Palace.
“Our basic principle is that there should be no nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula or in the Middle East.”
The apparent Iranian opposition to North Korea’s nuclear ambitions came as the Kim Jong-un regime is expected to carry out a fifth nuclear test around its Seventh Workers’ Party Congress starting Friday.
Park said she had explained Seoul’s position on the North Korean nuclear issue to the Iranian president.
“Stressing the need to fully implement the latest United Nations sanctions on the North for its recent nuclear test, I asked for Iranian cooperation,” Park said later.
The President’s trip to Iran has drawn extra significance as the country has maintained close relations with North Korea, especially in the development of nuclear materials.
Park has urged Pyongyang to follow in Tehran’s footsteps in curbing its nuclear activities and joining the international community. In July last year, Iran reached a landmark deal with world powers to rein in its nuclear program and sanctions were lifted in January.
Park Won-gon, an international relations professor at Handong University, said President Rouhani’s statement could deal a major blow to the North.
“It is significant given that North Korea and Iran are assumed to have been cooperating on the development of nuclear weapons and missiles,” he said.
“But his comment means Iran will not work with North Korea anymore and it may be a bitter blow to the country.”
In order to make the most of her rare visit to Iran to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue, President Park also met with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who is a former president and considered Iran’s most powerful figure.
While seeking Iran’s cooperation on improving security on the Korean Peninsula, President Park also produced a solid economic performance.
According to the presidential office, the estimated amount from the 66 agreements signed is the biggest economic achievement won by the Park administration in a single country, raising expectations that they may return bilateral economic cooperation to the level they were before sanctions were imposed.
The trade volume between Korea and Iran stood at $6.1 billion in 2015, compared to $17.4 billion in 2011.
The MOUs also include a $10 billion project by a Korean consortium to build facilities in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Jask.
“We have agreed to strategically change bilateral trade relations and I hope the trade volume between the two countries will triple,” Rouhani said.
“We have agreed to open direct flights between the two nations with hopes for cooperation in tourism.”
He also hoped that a number of Korean companies, including banks, will operate in Iran.
Since the lifting of international sanctions in January, the Middle Eastern country has emerged as a land of opportunity due to its abundant resources and planned large-scale infrastructure development projects to rebuild its economy hurt by decades of sanctions.
To this end, Park arrived in Tehran with Korea’s largest-ever business delegation, comprised of 236 business people and representatives of economic organizations, seeking to explore new business opportunities there.
“We also discussed ways to expand cooperation in the fields of power plants, railroads and ports as well as infrastructure and energy,” Park said.
Meanwhile, the two leaders adopted a joint statement as part of bilateral efforts to improve relations between the two nations over the long term.