ID :
195961
Wed, 07/20/2011 - 06:42
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/195961
The shortlink copeid
S. Korea seeks ARF statement on N. Korea's uranium program
SEOUL, July 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is trying to convince Asia's biggest security gathering this week to adopt a statement expressing concern about North Korea's uranium enrichment program and prodding the North to prove by action its denuclearization commitment, officials said Wednesday.
Top diplomats of 27 Asia-Pacific nations are scheduled to meet in Bali, Indonesia, on Saturday for an annual meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) that brings together North Korea and all other key players on security issues.
The forum, hosted by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has served as an important venue for discussions on North Korea. The North's nuclear standoff is expected to be highlighted at this year's session after it unveiled its uranium enrichment program last November.
"We will make diplomatic efforts to include concerns about North Korea's uranium enrichment program and inter-Korean dialogue as an essential step before building conditions for the resumption of the six-party talks into this year's ARF statement," said a ranking official at the Foreign Ministry.
However, the official said South Korea has no plan to raise the issue of the North's deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island last November at this year's session, in an apparent bid to break the diplomatic deadlock with Pyongyang.
The North's revelation of its uranium enrichment program, together with its two deadly military attacks on South Korea last year, has created hurdles to efforts by regional powers to reopen the six-party talks which involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.
South Korea wants to take the North's uranium program to the U.N. Security Council for new sanctions but China opposes such a move, arguing that the issue can be handled at the six-party talks, according to South Korean officials.
Pyongyang claims the uranium enrichment program is for peaceful energy development but outside experts believe that it would give the country a new source of fission material to make atomic bombs, in addition to its widely known plutonium-based nuclear weapons program.
The six-party talks have been stalled since late 2008. North Korea claims to be willing to return to the talks without preconditions, but South Korea and the U.S. have said Pyongyang must show its sincerity in denuclearizing before the resumption of the stalled talks can take place.
Ahead of the ARF, South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan plans to host a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from the U.S., China, Japan and Russia.
Kim, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto will also hold a trilateral meeting in Bali to coordinate their joint strategy on the North's nuclear program.
North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun will also be in attendance at the ARF and Kim said he was willing to meet Pak "through any channel available."
"Minister Kim is pushing ahead with a plan to hold an informal meeting with Pak on the sidelines of the ARF," the official said on the condition of anonymity.
Other hot topics at this year's ARF would be rising tensions surrounding the South China Sea with the dispute over the resource-rich marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean becoming a new flash point in relations between the U.S. and China.
South Korean officials said they will maintain a neutral stance on the South China Sea dispute.
Top diplomats of 27 Asia-Pacific nations are scheduled to meet in Bali, Indonesia, on Saturday for an annual meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) that brings together North Korea and all other key players on security issues.
The forum, hosted by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has served as an important venue for discussions on North Korea. The North's nuclear standoff is expected to be highlighted at this year's session after it unveiled its uranium enrichment program last November.
"We will make diplomatic efforts to include concerns about North Korea's uranium enrichment program and inter-Korean dialogue as an essential step before building conditions for the resumption of the six-party talks into this year's ARF statement," said a ranking official at the Foreign Ministry.
However, the official said South Korea has no plan to raise the issue of the North's deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island last November at this year's session, in an apparent bid to break the diplomatic deadlock with Pyongyang.
The North's revelation of its uranium enrichment program, together with its two deadly military attacks on South Korea last year, has created hurdles to efforts by regional powers to reopen the six-party talks which involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.
South Korea wants to take the North's uranium program to the U.N. Security Council for new sanctions but China opposes such a move, arguing that the issue can be handled at the six-party talks, according to South Korean officials.
Pyongyang claims the uranium enrichment program is for peaceful energy development but outside experts believe that it would give the country a new source of fission material to make atomic bombs, in addition to its widely known plutonium-based nuclear weapons program.
The six-party talks have been stalled since late 2008. North Korea claims to be willing to return to the talks without preconditions, but South Korea and the U.S. have said Pyongyang must show its sincerity in denuclearizing before the resumption of the stalled talks can take place.
Ahead of the ARF, South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan plans to host a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from the U.S., China, Japan and Russia.
Kim, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto will also hold a trilateral meeting in Bali to coordinate their joint strategy on the North's nuclear program.
North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun will also be in attendance at the ARF and Kim said he was willing to meet Pak "through any channel available."
"Minister Kim is pushing ahead with a plan to hold an informal meeting with Pak on the sidelines of the ARF," the official said on the condition of anonymity.
Other hot topics at this year's ARF would be rising tensions surrounding the South China Sea with the dispute over the resource-rich marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean becoming a new flash point in relations between the U.S. and China.
South Korean officials said they will maintain a neutral stance on the South China Sea dispute.
