Indonesia’s Megawati talks up North Korea as model for nuclear programme
- The former president says it’s ‘never too late’ for Indonesia to seize the benefits of atomic energy and has ordered work to begin on designing a commercial nuclear reactor
- Indonesia has long sought to stay away from building nuclear power plants, but still maintains diplomatic and trade ties with North Korea
Former president Megawati Sukarnoputri has urged Indonesia to take a leaf out of North Korea’s nuclear programme playbook, saying it was “never too late” for the country to seize the benefits of atomic energy.
Megawati, head of the Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which includes President Joko Widodo, also asked the National Research and Innovation Agency to begin work on designing a commercial nuclear reactor.
She said Indonesia could still catch up with nuclear-armed nations like North Korea which has made significant progress in mastering the technology despite its economy being crippled by United Nations sanctions.
“If we can develop the technology, it’s never too late. We can catch up with countries that have nuclear programmes,” said Megawati, the daughter of Indonesia’s first president Sukarno.
She added that financial limitations should not stand in the way of Indonesia becoming a nuclear state, The Jakarta Post reported.
“How can a country like North Korea develop its nuclear programme? It’s a problem of human resources, I believe,” Megawati said.
North Korea has been under several rounds of UN sanctions imposed over its repeated nuclear and missile tests since 2006.
In recent months, Pyongyang launched dozens of missiles, including ballistic weapons that flew over Japan and showed a potential to reach the US mainland.