North Korea invites Thailand to invest 'because Thais are trustworthy and don't interfere in matters that don't involve them'

Thailand’s foreign minister said his North Korean counterpart has invited Thai businesses to invest in his country because Thais are trustworthy and don’t interfere with matters that don’t involve them.

Thai Foreign Minister Tanasak Patimapragorn said visiting North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong told him in a meeting that Thai businesses are invited to invest in a special economic zone in North Korea that will open soon, and would be given incentives and privileges. Ri did not speak to the media.

A subsidiary of Thai telecommunications company Loxley has been a major investor in North Korea for more than a decade and helped it modernize its communications infrastructure.

Tanasak said Ri told him that the reason they wanted Thai investors is because “Thais are good people, trustworthy,” and don’t get involved with matters that don’t concern them, suggesting that military-ruled Thailand would not criticize North Korea’s politics or human rights record, which is generally ranked by rights advocates as one of the worst in the world.

“They are not open to inviting just any country, but they are keen on inviting us,” Tanasak said.

A statement issued by Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said the two sides “discussed issues of bilateral cooperation, including exchange of visits at all levels, cultural exchange and technical cooperation, particularly issues of interest to (North Korea), namely, food security, agriculture and public health, ICT and tourism.”