North Korea backs ASEAN while accusing US of seeking regional influence

North Korea has reaffirmed its support for ASEAN in maintaining regional peace and stability, while accusing the United States of exploiting the organisation for its own interests in Southeast Asia. In a statement carried by the KCNA news agency on Friday, a North Korean foreign ministry spokesperson welcomed ASEAN’s role in promoting regional peace and security based on the principles of ‘respect for sovereignty, sovereign equality, and non-intervention in internal affairs’. The statement was issued alongside the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the 33rd ASEAN Regional Forum in Manila, Philippines, where regional security issues such as North Korea and the Taiwan Strait were topics of discussion. However, Pyongyang accused the US and ‘a number of countries that follow it’ of using the ASEAN platform to advance what it called policies that contradict the aspirations for peace, development, and cooperation desired by countries in the region. The North Korean foreign ministry specifically condemned the foreign ministers of the US, Japan, and South Korea for calling for North Korea’s denuclearisation and discussing the Taiwan Strait issue under the pretext of ‘freedom of navigation’. Pyongyang claimed the three countries are ‘the root of regional instability and a major obstacle to achieving peace,’ according to the KCNA report. While asserting that Southeast Asia must not ‘become a region subservient to the security and prosperity of the US’, it also urged that ASEAN forums not be used as a venue to provoke hostility or criticise other nations. North Korea stressed its commitment to maintaining good relations with ASEAN member states that respect its sovereignty, while continuing to play a role in peace, security, and mutually beneficial cooperation in the region. Pyongyang also asserted that its status as a nuclear state is irreversible under any circumstances, the KCNA report stated.