N. Korea, U.S. unlikely to have bilateral meeting at ASEAN forum: FM

SEOUL, July 20 (Yonhap) -- North Korea and the United States are unlikely to hold
a bilateral meeting at the upcoming ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which Pyongyang's
chief diplomat is not expected to attend, Seoul's foreign minister said Monday.
North Korea has notified host Thailand that it will send a vice foreign
minister-level official, not its Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun, to the forum set
for Thursday in the Thai resort island of Phuket. The decision came as Pyongyang
is locked in a tense standoff with the outside world over its missile and nuclear
programs.
"It (bilateral contact) won't be easy, unless Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun of the
North is coming," Seoul's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told reporters before
leaving for Thailand.
Yu said the Thai government and other sources have confirmed to Seoul that the
North is sending Park Keun-gwang, a vice foreign minister-level ambassador, to
ARF on behalf of the foreign minister.
North Korea has often dispatched its foreign minister to the annual event, which
groups 10 ASEAN member countries and 17 other nations. The participants include
the U.S., China, Russia, Japan, and the two Koreas who make up the six-way talks
on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
The U.S. has said its delegation, led by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, will
attend the ARF.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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