ASEAN urged to help ease Korea crisis

ASEAN urged to help ease Korea crisis

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and
Pacific Affairs James A. Kelly urged Indonesia and other
Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) members on Friday
to support dialog as a peaceful means to resolve tension over
North Korea's nuclear power program.

Citing that all those involved parties in the problem were
members of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), Kelly said that the
association could take a leading role in ending the standoff
between North Korea and the U.S. regarding Pyongyang's nuclear
program.

"All parties related to this issue, North Korea and South
Korea, the U.S. and Japan, are members of ARF, which could push
for more effective dialog to solve this issue," Minister for
Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda quoted Kelly as saying on Friday.

Hassan was speaking to the media at the State Palace after
accompanying President Megawati Soekarnoputri in talks with
Kelly, who is on a two-day visit to Jakarta.

The visit is part of his tour of Asia, which includes stops in
China, South Korea, Singapore and Japan, to reiterate
Washington's stance, which is to put forward dialog as a means to
end the issue.

The situation in the Korean peninsula became tense after
Pyongyang decided to pull out from the Nuclear Proliferation
Treaty (NPT) last week.

North Korea's about-face was triggered by America's decision
to stop its food and energy assistance to Pyongyang after it
asked the United Nations' weapon inspectors to leave the country.

Washington is perceived as wanting to treat North Korea like
Iraq, which is under threat of massive strikes from the United
States and its allies for what they consider as Baghdad's refusal
to disarm and destroy its weapons of mass destruction.

Hassan said he told the U.S. that any action against Pyongyang
would immediately affect the region, both politically and
economically.

However, Hassan also expressed concern over Pyongyang's
possible possession of nuclear weapons, saying that "there are
too many countries in Asia that have nuclear weapons and they
would ultimately provoke conflicts in the region".

"We agree with the U.S. that dialog between North Korea and
South Korea would be more effective," the minister said.

Earlier, in South Korea, Kelly expressed confidence that there
would be a peaceful outcome, saying that he had been assured that
the Pyongyang issue would be solved in a peaceful manner.

Kelly is slated to hold a series of meetings with members of
the civil society on Saturday, including Muslim leaders, before
leaving for Japan.

Aside from meeting Megawati and Hassan, he also held a meeting
on Friday with Coordinating Minister for Political and Security
Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.