By Park Si-soo
Namibia has cut ties with two North Korean companies to comply with U.N. sanctions on the North’s nuclear and missile projects.
The two companies ― the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (KOMID) and Mansudae Overseas Project ― are considered as North Korea’s “primary arms dealer,” as described in the United Nations sanctions list, according to the Southern Africa country’s foreign ministry.
According to the Associated Press, Namibia's deputy prime minister, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, went to Pyongyang to convey the news to North Korea's foreign minister. North Korea has not yet made reaction to this.
Namibia said its “warm diplomatic relations” with North Korea will remain.
Namibia is the latest African nation to cut ties as international pressure mounts to tighten and better enforce sanctions on Pyongyang. In May, Uganda announced it was cutting military, but not diplomatic, ties with North Korea to comply with sanctions.
According to AP, KOMID worked on construction of a munitions factory in Namibia and Mansudae was involved in several military construction projects.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye during a three-nation African tour in May pressed for the isolation of North Korea to persuade it to stop the production of nuclear weapons.