Why is Indonesia Courting North Korea?
Indonesia’s odd relationship with North Korea is back in the news as Jakarta seeks to take advantage of the changing economic conditions in the Hermit Kingdom. Last week Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa spent three days in North Korea where he met with his North Korean counterpart Pak Ui-chun and Kim Yong-nam, the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly and the second highest ranking official in the DPRK. Marty made no attempt to hide the fact that the primary purpose of his visit was to position Indonesia to take advantage of the economic changes North Korea is currently undertaking. Most notably, earlier this month Pyongyang announced that it was establishing special economic zones in every province in a bid to expand foreign investment in the country. At the beginning of his trip, Marty said that he had been sent to North Korea by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to help create a...