US embassy cable - 05ABUJA1836

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 001836 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/23/2015 
TAGS: PARM, PREL, MNUC, KNNP, NI, ZO, POLMIL 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA DENIES MILITARY TIES TO NORTH KOREA 
 
REF: A. STATE 173768 
     B. ABUJA 1334 
 
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Thomas P. Furey for reasons 1.4 
(D & F) 
 
1.  (C) Summary.  Nigeria claims to have no military 
relationship with North Korea, and only a limited 
non-military relationship. The MFA's Director for Asia and 
Pacific Affairs said Nigeria's policy toward the DPRK is 
based on hopes for the peaceful resolution of all issues in 
the Six Party Talks and for the peaceful reunification of the 
Korean Peninsula.  He feared that the US approach toward 
North Korean arms sales will be counterproductive, and that 
gentle pressure is more likely to have positive results. 
Nigeria will soon engage the US for a license to import from 
South Korea components necessary to construct nuclear power 
plants.   End Summary. 
 
2.  (C)  DCM and PolMilOff delivered Reftel A demarche to 
Prince Ariyo, the MFA's Director of Asia and Pacific Affairs, 
on 24 September 2005.  The points were left as a nonpaper 
with Ariyo, and he promised to convey the US position upward 
in the MFA. 
 
3.  (C)  Ariyo said "frankly and honestly" Nigeria has no 
military engagement or discussions with the DPRK, and has not 
since Ariyo assumed his position in 2003.  There is a North 
Korean ambassador to Nigeria, and Nigerian embassy in 
Pyongyang, he said, but the relationship includes neither 
military nor nuclear issues.  He pointed to North Korean 
doctors in Nasarawa State and collaboration on small-scale 
embroidery and fish-processing factories in Jigawa and Yobe 
States as examples of low-technology cooperation typical of 
their bilateral economic relationship.  Ariyo made a point of 
refuting press reports about talks with the Vice President of 
North Korea on nuclear cooperation from January 2004. 
 
4.  (C)  Ariyo said Nigeria supports a nuclear weapon-free 
Korean peninsula and the peaceful reunification of the Korean 
peninsula and has been pushing North Korea toward the 
peaceful resolution of all the issues discussed in the Six 
Party Talks.  He fears that our request to cut off 
conventional arms sales could be counterproductive, 
especially in light of recent progress in the Six Party 
Talks.  Ariyo said that a gentle nudging of North Korea would 
be more productive than the US approach (Note:  This is very 
similar to Nigeria's approach to Zimbabwe.  Obasanjo feels 
that quiet, personal diplomacy is more likely to achieve 
results than public assaults on Mugabe's government and is, 
therefore, unwilling to join any international movement 
against the GOZ.  End Note). 
 
5.  (C) Ariyo then launched into a discussion of Nigeria's 
need to develop a civilian nuclear energy generating 
capacity.  (Note: Ref B discusses Nigeria's plan to build and 
operate 5-8 nuclear power plants by 2030. End Note.)  He said 
that while Nigeria has been purchasing reactor components 
from a South Korean firm (NFI), a US license will be required 
to continue importing components and that we should expect 
the GON to begin engaging us on this license.  He pointed out 
several times that Nigeria has not been working with North 
Korea on nuclear energy issues, and he did not attempt to 
link Nigerian support for our position to support of their 
civilian nuclear ambition. 
 
6.  (C)  Comment.  Ariyo was more willing to engage on issues 
than most other interlocutors in the MFA, but seemed to step 
beyond his portfolio in his discussions of Nigeria's need for 
nuclear power.  While he was clearly trying to prove his 
worth as an interlocutor, he failed to discuss the role of 
the North Korean Defense Attach in the North Korean Embassy 
in Abuja, who the Nigerian DIA says is constantly in their 
offices.  If there is no military engagement or discussions 
occurring, why would they have this officer here?  End 
comment. 
CAMPBELL