Regional security high on APEC forum agenda

Regional security high on APEC forum agenda

SEOUL (AFP): Asia-Pacific leaders will discuss post-Cold War regional security and the North Korean nuclear issue when they hold separate one-on-one talks at the APEC forum next week, officials here said.

President Kim Young-sam will meet with U.S. President Bill Clinton, Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien on the sidelines during their stay in Indonesia for the APEC leadership meeting scheduled for Tuesday.

"Beside bilateral economic cooperation, post-Cold War regional security and issues related to North Korea's nuclear program will dominate the agenda," a presidential aide said.

It will be the first time that the South Korean president has met with any of the four leaders since the signing of a landmark agreement in Geneva last month, which called for freezing North Korea's suspect nuclear program.

Kim is now on a visit to Manila on the first leg of a 10-day trip, which will also take him to the APEC forum and on to Australia.

The South Korean president will propose the formation of a regional security consultative body comprising the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and eventually Russia under a "two-plus-four" format, local press reports said.

He will also offer to invite North Korea to join the ASEAN Regional Forum on security, which was formed last July, on condition that the North fulfills the Geneva agreement, the reports said.

In a speech here on Wednesday, Secretary of State Warren Christopher expressed US support for activating such a regional security forum.

"The end of the Cold War means that we and our allies can now work with China and Russia to resolve common security concerns in the Pacific. That is why we are encouraging new regional security dialogues among past and potential adversaries," Christopher said.

"In this respect, we welcome the inauguration of the ASEAN Regional Forum," he said.

The separate meetings on the APEC sidelines will also focus on follow-up steps to the Geneva accord, including two modern light- water reactors the United States promised to the North in return for neutralizing its nuclear program.

Dialog

Kim will call for cooperation in persuading North Korea to resume dialog with the South to discuss two pending issues -- the replacement of the Korean armistice with a peace treaty and the reactor assistance.

With regard to the improvement of ties with Pyongyang, Kim will call on the United States and Japan to move on a parallel course with progress in inter-Korean dialogue and the North's making good on the nuclear deal.

Clinton and Kim are expected to reaffirm that despite the nuclear deal, the 37,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea should stay because of continuing threats from the North's conventional forces, the aide said.

During his meeting with Murayama, Kim is expected to call for Japan to actively take part in bankrolling the reactor assistance and the supply of supplementary energy to the North until the new reactors are in place.

When he meets with Jiang, Kim will thank China for its intermediary role in resolving the nuclear crisis and call for cooperation in talking the North into reopening inter-Korean dialog.