ID :
196188
Thu, 07/21/2011 - 07:04
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/196188
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ASEAN calls for early resumption of nuclear talks on N. Korea
(LEAD) BALI, Indonesia, July 21 (Yonhap) -- Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have called for an early resumption of the stalled talks on ending North Korea's nuclear program, officials said Thursday.
In a joint statement issued after the annual meeting of the ASEAN here, the top diplomats from the 10 member countries said they "urged the early resumption of the six-party talks," which group the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan.
"We reaffirmed our support to the efforts made to achieve denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner," the statement said, calling on the six-party members to "create a conducive atmosphere for dialogue and consultation."
The six-party talks have been dormant since late 2008 after North Korea walked out of the multilateral process after a new round of U.N. sanctions.
Efforts to resume the talks have been complicated by the North's two deadly military attacks on South Korea last year, together with its revelation of a uranium enrichment program last November.
After sharply raising tensions last year, 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.
Pyongyang claims the uranium enrichment program is for peaceful energy development, but outside experts believe it will give the country a new source of fission material to make atomic bombs, in addition to its widely known plutonium-based nuclear weapons program.
ASEAN foreign ministers will join the annual ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which has served as an important venue for discussions on North Korea, on Saturday.
Top diplomats from the six nations, including South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun, will be in attendance.
On the sidelines of the ARF, Kim has said he was willing to meet with Pak "through any channels available."
A delegation of six to seven North Korean officials, led by Pak, is heading to Bali after departing from Mongolia, South Korean delegates to the ARF said. The North Korean delegation is expected to arrive in Bali later Thursday, they said.
A South Korean diplomat in Bali, who asked not to be named, raised the "possibility" that Kim and Pak could hold an informal meeting here. "We are making diplomatic efforts for the two sides to hold an informal meeting," the official said.
Since 2000, when inter-Korean relations warmed, foreign ministers from the two Koreas had occasionally met during the annual forum. However, no such meetings took place over the past three years amid tensions over the North's long-range missile launch, nuclear defiance and Seoul's get-tough policy toward Pyongyang.
South Korea is working to convince the ARF to adopt a statement expressing concern about North Korea's uranium enrichment program and prodding the North to prove by action its denuclearization commitment, said Park Hae-yoon, a senior South Korean delegate.
Also on Thursday, the South Korean foreign minister will hold a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts, including Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jeichi, Park said.
In a joint statement issued after the annual meeting of the ASEAN here, the top diplomats from the 10 member countries said they "urged the early resumption of the six-party talks," which group the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan.
"We reaffirmed our support to the efforts made to achieve denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner," the statement said, calling on the six-party members to "create a conducive atmosphere for dialogue and consultation."
The six-party talks have been dormant since late 2008 after North Korea walked out of the multilateral process after a new round of U.N. sanctions.
Efforts to resume the talks have been complicated by the North's two deadly military attacks on South Korea last year, together with its revelation of a uranium enrichment program last November.
After sharply raising tensions last year, 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.
Pyongyang claims the uranium enrichment program is for peaceful energy development, but outside experts believe it will give the country a new source of fission material to make atomic bombs, in addition to its widely known plutonium-based nuclear weapons program.
ASEAN foreign ministers will join the annual ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which has served as an important venue for discussions on North Korea, on Saturday.
Top diplomats from the six nations, including South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun, will be in attendance.
On the sidelines of the ARF, Kim has said he was willing to meet with Pak "through any channels available."
A delegation of six to seven North Korean officials, led by Pak, is heading to Bali after departing from Mongolia, South Korean delegates to the ARF said. The North Korean delegation is expected to arrive in Bali later Thursday, they said.
A South Korean diplomat in Bali, who asked not to be named, raised the "possibility" that Kim and Pak could hold an informal meeting here. "We are making diplomatic efforts for the two sides to hold an informal meeting," the official said.
Since 2000, when inter-Korean relations warmed, foreign ministers from the two Koreas had occasionally met during the annual forum. However, no such meetings took place over the past three years amid tensions over the North's long-range missile launch, nuclear defiance and Seoul's get-tough policy toward Pyongyang.
South Korea is working to convince the ARF to adopt a statement expressing concern about North Korea's uranium enrichment program and prodding the North to prove by action its denuclearization commitment, said Park Hae-yoon, a senior South Korean delegate.
Also on Thursday, the South Korean foreign minister will hold a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts, including Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jeichi, Park said.
