Sudan said on Wednesday it had cut all defence ties with North Korea, acknowledging for the first time the existence of such deals.
“Sudan’s defence manufacturers have cancelled all contracts signed with North Korea and also ended their relations, direct or through third parties, with North Korea,” the foreign ministry said, without giving details of the agreements.
Khartoum said the decision is part of its commitment to the international Non-Proliferation Treaty and sanctions against Pyongyang.
It had also set up a committee to implement United Nations Security Council sanctions against Pyongyang, the ministry said.
The United States has been stepping up pressure on Sudan to cut all ties with North Korea.
The US lifted 20 years of sanctions on Sudan in October but kept it on a list of “state sponsors of terrorism” along with North Korea, Iran and Syria.
The move looked set to help Sudan’s ailing economy, but it has been hit hard by surging inflation and no significant increase in foreign investment.
Sudanese officials say that having Khartoum on Washington’s “terrorism” blacklist makes international banks wary of doing business in Sudan and, in turn, hampers the country’s economic revival.
Sudan’s economic problems led to widespread protests earlier this year.
North Korea last year rattled the international community with a flurry of nuclear and missile tests.
US President Donald Trump is to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore, with Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal topping the agenda.
Source – AL-JAZEERA