In sign of protracted stalemate, N. Korean foreign minister won't attend ARF

By Lee Chi-dong

SEOUL, July 16 (Yonhap) -- North Korea will send an ambassador-at-large on behalf its foreign minister to the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) next week in Thailand, an official at the North Korean embassy in Bangkok said Thursday.

The decision dashes hopes of an informal gathering in Phuket of the foreign
ministers from North Korea and its five dialogue partners in the moribund six-way
talks aimed at denuclearizing Pyongyang. The five are South Korea, the U.S.,
China, Russia and Japan.
Some also see it as a show of the North's resolve to not buckle to international
pressure.
"We already delivered the list of our delegates to the Thai government. Amb. Pak
Keun-gwang will lead our delegation, which will be composed of five officials,"
the official told Yonhap News Agency over the phone. "Foreign Minister Pak
Ui-chun will not come."
The embassy official refused to reveal his name or job title, only saying he is a
staff member at the embassy.
Amb. Pak Keun-gwang is a vice foreign minister-level official, he added.
Pak has served as North Korea's ambassador to Namibia, South Africa and Kenya.
In Washington, meanwhile, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian
and Pacific Affairs Scot Marciel said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has no
plans to meet with North Korean officials on the sidelines of the ARF.