DPA

JAKARTA INDONESIAN and North Korean leaders discussed trade and investment during talks on Tuesday, the Indonesian foreign minister said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono hailed the meeting with North Korean ceremonial head of state Kim Yong-nam as “a new milestone” in a long history of friendship between the two nations.

“There’s a determination to enhance ties in economic and trade sectors,” Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said. “There are abundant opportunities to improve our trade and investment figures.” Indonesia’s total trade with North Korea stood at 38 million dollars in 2011.

Natalegawa said Pyongyang’s nuclear issue was not specifically discussed at the meeting but Kim told Yudhoyono there had been unbalanced reports about last month’s rocket launch by North Korea.

“In response to that information, the president stressed that all parties should communicate to avoid misunderstandings,” he said.

“Indonesia thinks there should be transparency and communication related to all problems in the Korean peninsula.” There are concerns that North Korea could conduct another nuclear test after the failed rocket launch, which the US and its allies said was a disguised ballistic missile test.

“We have been saying both in private and public, that it is not an action that can be conducive to the peninsula’s stability and peace,” Natalegawa said. “On the contrary it would be definitely inimical to the region’s stability,” he added.

Kim was in Indonesia on a three-day visit following his trip to Singapore over the weekend.