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.