S. Korea to seek continued support for N. Korea policy at Asia-Europe meeting

SEOUL, June 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will seek to draw continued international support for its beleaguered North Korea policy when its top diplomat meets with his counterparts at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) next week in Hungary, the foreign ministry said Thursday.
The foreign ministers' meeting is the 10th of its kind and will take place for two days beginning on Monday, the ministry here said in a statement. The meeting, which mainly seeks to find ways to tighten cooperation against non-traditional security challenges such as nuclear safety and climate change, comes after Pyongyang tried to mar Seoul's diplomatic profile by divulging what it claimed to be details of the South's secret contact with the North for a summit.
The accusation made Wednesday has cornered the government here into a political predicament as Seoul has long said it would not negotiate until Pyongyang steps away from its provocative behavior.
During the ASEM meeting, South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan seeks to "secure international support for our North Korea policy for the safety and stability of the Korean Peninsula," the ministry said without elaborating.
It added that Kim will also join a range of discussions on topics such as natural disasters, nuclear safety, United Nations reforms and human rights abuses, among others.
The ministers at the ASEM meeting will adopt a chairman's statement upon its conclusion, and Kim will also pay a courtesy call on Hungary's leader during his visit, the ministry said.