N. Korea joins ASEAN Regional Forum

By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat

BANGKOK (JP): North Korea was inducted into the region's premier security forum here on Thursday, further raising hope of mollifying one of the region's potential flashpoints.

North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-Sun, took his seat among his 22 other counterparts here at the annual ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) amid positive signs of reconciliation on the Korean peninsula.

Even if there seemed to be few concrete results coming out of the multi-issue meeting, there was an overall ease and exuberance that the presence of the North Koreans was a significant step forward in paving the way for better regional harmony and stability, which is the ultimate purpose of the ARF.

"At the end of the day it makes a great deal more sense to have dialog with North Korea than to freeze them out of regional and international arrangements," Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.

Hosted on a rotational basis by the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- the ARF also includes Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Russia, South Korea and the United States.

But there were some notable absentees in this year's meeting.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab was represented by his Director General for Political Affairs Hassan Wirajuda because he had to return to Indonesia to attend a party congress, while United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was not expected to arrive until later Thursday night and was represented by her deputy, Strobe Talbott. Philippines Foreign Minister Domingo L. Siazon was also absent as he was accompanying his president on a visit to the United States.

TMD

One of the strongest open censures at the Forum meeting was actually directly against the United States, when China and Russia used the opportunity to express their disapproval of Washington's "Cold War mentality" by pursuing its Theater Missile Defense (TMD) program.

Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said the program was "against the tide of our times".

"The Cold War mentality is still affecting the way some countries perceive world politics and international relations," Tang said.

He described Washington's pursuit of the program as one that compromised regional confidence building measures and as "aggravating the instability of the region".

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov warned that plans to deploy anti-missile shields in Northeast Asia could spark a new global arms race.

Describing it as a matter of "deep concern", Ivanov told the 23 delegates at the Forum that "further strategic arms reductions would become impossible and the entire system of arms reduction and limitation agreements would be revised".

Talks on the missile issue are expected to come to the fore again here on Friday in a highly anticipated meeting between Albright and Paek Nam-Sun.

The 36-point statement also included an expression of support for Indonesia.

"The ministers agreed that a united, democratic and economically prosperous Indonesia was fundamental to the maintenance of regional security," the statement said. "In this context, they emphasized their support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity of Indonesia".

On the East Timor issue, the ministers in the ARF statement said they "deplored" the recent death of a UN peacekeeper in East Timor and emphasized the need for further collective action to resolve the refugee problem, including dealing with the continuing militia activity.

Regarding the regional situation as a whole, the ARF statement said the security outlook in the Asia-Pacific "remained positive".

Without being specific, the statement nevertheless acknowledged there were still a few "uncertainties and challenges" which would require the attention of the ARF, particularly those posed by globalization.