Source: FN
Prime Minister Hun Sen appealed to all Cambodian workers and their families in South Korea to remain calm in spite of recent threats of war.
The premier shared his belief that war will be averted while speaking at a graduation ceremony at Asia Europe University on Thursday morning.
“I hope Cambodian workers are calm. I am sure that the possibility of war is 0.1%,” stated the premier.
Evacuation of Cambodian citizens or its diplomats from abroad at a time of tension out of fear of war, chaos or natural disaster is not Cambodia’s primary choice, the premier said.
The evacuation would take away 40,000 job vacancies.
The competition within ASEAN Member States is high, thus creating a challenging job market.
The premier evoked a similar situation from 2014, when N. Korea requested Cambodia to evacuate the Embassy in Pyongyang as a precautionary response to an escalating situation.
He said in 2014, he refused to allow Cambodian diplomats to leave Pyongyang even though North Korea was suggesting they leave due to possible war, and a similar case when he rejected Cambodian diplomats’ request to leave Japan following the March 2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster.
Over the past days, tensions on the Korean peninsula have risen as U.S. President Donald Trump threatened military exercises against Kim Jung Un.
Kim has promised to counter any such actions.
The premier also appealed to all parties concerned for “utmost restraint,” saying there will be “no winner but all losers, and the real losers are their neighbors” should war break out.
He also expressed hope that proper solutions to the Korean Peninsula tensions be sought through the resumption of six-party talks and other peaceful means.