North Korea's parliamentary chief and number-two political leader, Kim Yong Nam, arrived in Namibia Thursday afternoon for a three-day state visit, according to dpa. His arrival in Namibia at the head of a political delegation of 23 coincides with the country's 18th independence celebrations and the inauguration of the country's new State House on Friday, which North Korean builders constructed. During his visit, Kim Yong Nam was to hold talks with President Hifikepunye Pohamba and pay a courtesy call on Namibia's first post- independence leader, Sam Nujoma. The two countries were also expected to sign agreements on public health and a memorandum on diplomatic relations. Namibia, the world's fifth-largest uranium producer, has received high-level visits from a number of countries looking to source uranium for their nuclear power plants over the past two years, including Russia and China. The south-west African desert state enjoys close ties with Communist and former Communist countries, many of whom supported its struggle for independence from then-apartheid South Africa in 1990. Kim Yong Nam's official title is president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly.
