Asian security forum to discuss N. Korea<\/p>\n
P. Parameswaran, Agence France-Presse\/Washington<\/p>\n
With the Korean nuclear talks in limbo for more than a year,
\nofficials are looking at the Asia-Pacific region's biggest
\nofficial security forum this month to help break the deadlock.<\/p>\n
The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) ministerial meeting will
\nconvene in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, on July 29, in
\nconjunction with the annual ministerial talks of the Association
\nof Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).<\/p>\n
All members of the six-party talks aimed at ending North
\nKorea's nuclear weapons program -- the United States, China, the
\ntwo Koreas, Russia and Japan -- are in the 24-member ARF.<\/p>\n
"My guess is that the foreign minister of North Korea will
\ncome again this year. We hope that he does because it would help
\nto have more meaningful discussions," ASEAN Secretary-General Ong
\nKeng Yong told AFP in Washington.<\/p>\n
"Every year they will not tell us until the very last minute.
\nBut we believe the North Koreans see a value in the ASEAN
\nRegional Forum," Ong said.<\/p>\n
It is believed North Korea had assured Laos that Foreign
\nMinister Paek Nam-Sun would attend the ARF talks. The two are
\ncommunist states.<\/p>\n
Last year, Colin Powell, then U.S. Secretary of State, and
\nPaek met on the ARF sidelines in Indonesia's capital Jakarta to
\nreview proposals for ending their nuclear standoff in the
\nhighest-level talks between the countries in two years.<\/p>\n
Both sides acknowledged that deep mutual mistrust stood in the
\nway of a quick resolution to the crisis but reconfirmed their
\ncommitment to reaching a deal to rid the Korean peninsula of
\nnuclear weapons.<\/p>\n
But two months later, North Korea rejected a U.S. aid-for-
\ndisarmament plan and refused to attend the fourth round of the
\nsix-party talks hosted by China, blaming what it called U.S.
\nhostility and insincerity.<\/p>\n
With the six-party talks in a stalemate, the ARF seems to be
\nthe only regional forum where North Korea can be directly engaged
\non its nuclear ambitions, officials say.<\/p>\n
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who called North
\nKorea an "outpost of tyranny" in January, is unlikely to attend
\nthe ARF talks this year and is expected to be represented by her
\ndeputy Robert Zoellick, diplomatic sources said.<\/p>\n
North Korea has asked Rice to withdraw her description of the
\nhardline communist state but the top U.S. diplomat stood by her
\naffirmation, saying the nature of the North Korean regime is
\n"self-evident."<\/p>\n
Rice is reportedly planning a North Asian tour next week
\ncovering China, South Korea and Japan to discuss the nuclear
\ncrisis.<\/p>\n
A U.S. State Department official admitted that the backdrop
\nfor a possible meeting between U.S. and North Korean officials at
\nthe ARF sidelines this year was "different" from that of 2004.<\/p>\n
"Last year (the meeting was in a) different context," the
\nofficial told AFP, in an apparent reference to the murky
\natmosphere following North Korea's decision to boycott the six-
\nparty talks two months after the Powell meeting.<\/p>\n
Washington believes North Korea has one or two nuclear bombs
\nand may have reprocessed enough plutonium for half a dozen more,
\nfrom spent fuel rods at its Yongbyon nuclear complex.<\/p>\n
ASEAN's Ong cautioned against expecting too much from the ARF
\non the nuclear issue.<\/p>\n
"The priority is to get back to the six party talks," he said.
\n"Those of us who are not in the six party talks have little
\nleverage over North Korea. Even those in the six party talks have
\nlimited leverage," he said, apparently referring to China.<\/p>\n
"It's a good forum to air views and consider possible options
\nto solve difficulties but to expect more than that from the ARF
\nwill be a bit unrealistic," he said.<\/p>\n
The nuclear standoff flared in October 2002 when Washington
\naccused Pyongyang of operating a nuclear weapons program based on
\nenriched uranium in violation of a 1994 agreement. On Feb. 10
\nthis year, North Korea announced it had nuclear weapons.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asian-security-forum-to-discuss-n-korea-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}