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New Zealand Seeks "New Relationship" With DPRK
New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Phil Goff said his country will seek to support the process for peace on the Korean peninsula "through a developing dialogue and new relationship" with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
In an article carried by the Wellington-based newspaper the Dominion Wednesday, Goff said the time has come to reassess New Zealand's policy toward the DPRK.
Engagement with, rather than isolation from, the DPRK may now produce "better results" for peace and disarmament, said the New Zealand minister, who paid a visit to South Korea recently.
He said New Zealand welcomed the recent summit between the leaders of the two Koreas. "This will reduce the tension and the prospect for future conflict between the two. The wider international community as well as the two Koreas stand to benefit from this," Goff said.
Over the past year or so, New Zealand, which has no diplomatic relations with the DPRK at present, has had contact with the latter through their respective embassies in Jakarta, he said.
"I will probably take that dialogue further" at the gathering of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Bangkok later this month by meeting with DPRK Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun, he added.
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