N. Korean foreign minister arrives in Jakarta

N. Korean foreign minister arrives in Jakarta

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri's ambition to play a mediation
role in the North Korean nuclear crisis is closer to being
realized with the arrival of North Korean foreign minister Paek
Nam-sun in Jakarta on Monday to attend a security forum.

The President can expect that playing host to a successful
forum will give her a boost ahead of the July 5 presidential
election. It could also improve her international image, with the
foreign ministers of the six nations involved in the nuclear
talks, including U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, scheduled
to attend the meeting.

The foreign ministers are scheduled to arrive in Jakarta to
attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Regional Forum (ARF) on Friday, which will be attended by the
foreign ministers of the 10 ASEAN member countries and their
counterparts from 13 Asia-Pacific and European Union countries.

After meeting with Indonesian foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda
on Tuesday, Paek is scheduled to meet with the President on
Wednesday, where he is expected to convey a message from North
Korean leader Kim Jong-il, a longtime acquaintance of Megawati.

"It is an exciting prospect to have all of these foreign
ministers here in Jakarta. We hope they can take advantage of
being here to consult and meet among themselves," Ministry of
Foreign Affairs spokesman Marty A. Natalegawa said.

Following a meeting with Kim in Pyongyang in March 2002,
Megawati assigned a special envoy to help resolve the North
Korean nuclear crisis.

When asked what Hassan and Paek would discuss on Tuesday,
Marty said: "We want to hear directly from Paek Nam-sum on
Tuesday about the Beijing talks and what Indonesia can do to
facilitate the process of the six-party talks."

Recent talks on the North Korean nuclear crisis between North
Korea, South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States
made little progress.

Hassan is realistic about the prospects of the talks.

"Indonesia encourages all of the participants to be more
flexible and forthcoming to find a solution .... We understand
the critical issue here is the lack of mutual trust. The nuclear
issue is relatively new, but the grounds for the conflict have
been there for more that 50 years," Hassan told The Jakarta Post.

According to Agence France-Presse, a statement from the North
Korean Embassy said Paek's visit was to mark the 40th anniversary
of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Indonesia.

It said the visit would "mark an important momentum in further
developing the friendly and cooperative relations between the two
countries".

The statement said Paek and Megawati would hold talks on
further improving relations and "on other international issues of
mutual concern".

Meanwhile, South Korea's foreign ministry said Paek hoped for
bilateral talks with Powell on the sidelines of the ARF meeting.
The ministry also confirmed that Paek would meet with South
Korean foreign minister Ban Ki-moon for talks on Thursday,

"Paek also wants to meet with Powell and separately with
Japanese foreign minister Yoriko Kawaguchi," a ministry official
said.