(2nd LD) In sign of protracted stalemate, N. Korean foreign minister won't attend ARF

(2nd LD) In sign of protracted stalemate, N. Korean foreign minister won't attend ARF
(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with details, Thailand's efforts, N.K. No. 2 leader's
comments, U.N. sanctions)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, July 16 (Yonhap) -- North Korea will send an ambassador-at-large on behalf
of 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 not to buckle to international
pressure in the wake of its nuclear test in May and a series of missile launches.
"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, Kenya, and
several other African nations.
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.
Asia's largest security forum brings together the 10 ASEAN members and their 10
dialogue partners _ Australia, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, India, the
European Union, New Zealand, the U.S. and Russia. The ARF also includes North
Korea, Mongolia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, East Timor and Papua New
Guinea.
The North Korean issue is expected to be high on the agenda at this year's
session. South Korean officials said the issue will be mentioned in the
chairman's statement to sum up the results of the foreign ministerial meeting
next Thursday.
Thailand, which hosts this year's ASEAN meetings, has vigorously tried to
persuade North Korea to dispatch its foreign minister to the event.
Panich Vikitset, assistant to Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, visited
Pyongyang last week as part of the efforts.
Thai officials say the ARF provides the North with a chance to explain its recent
actions and break its diplomatic isolation.
But the North's number two leader made clear that his country has no intention of
returning to the bargaining table at a time when the U.S. and other nations are
seeking to implement the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874 imposing sanctions
on Pyongyang for its latest nuclear experiment.
"For us there can be no dialogue, nor any negotiations where the principles of
respect for sovereign rights and equality are denied," Kim Yong-nam said,
speaking at the Non-Aligned Movement summit of 118 nations in Egypt.
"The (six-nation) talks came to a permanent end because the U.S. and the majority
of the obedient parties to the talks abandoned this principle," he added.
A sanctions committee at the U.N. council came close to a compromise on a list of
North Korean entities and individuals involved in the country's development of
missile and nuclear programs.
Several North Korean officials are expected to face a travel ban and a freeze of
their assets abroad, U.N. sources said.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)