Regional powers to discuss N. Korea strategy in Thailand

By Lee Chi-dong
PHUKET, Thailand, July 22 (Yonhap) -- Top diplomats from five regional powers
struggling to coax North Korea into rejoining disarmament talks will hold a
series of bilateral meetings here on Wednesday, in which they are expected to
deliver a clearer message to Pyongyang that it should stop its provocations or
face more U.N. sanctions.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan and his Chinese, Russian, and
Japanese counterparts are visiting this resort island to attend the ASEAN
Regional Forum (ARF), an annual security forum led by 10 Southeast Asian nations.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is also scheduled to arrive here later
Wednesday. All the nations are members in the long-deadlocked six-way talks with
North Korea over its nuclear program.
"Minister Yu plans to attend the ASEAN+3 (South Korea, China, and Japan) and East
Asia Summit foreign ministerial talks on Wednesday, followed by South Korea-ASEAN
foreign ministerial talks," said Moon Tae-young, spokesman for Seoul's delegation
to the ARF.
Yu will also hold back-to-back bilateral meetings with his counterparts from the
U.S., Japan, China, and Russia, all mainly focused on how to deal with North
Korea, Moon added.
The countries initially sought to have a six-way foreign ministerial meeting
involving North Korea to seek ways to break a stalemate which has deepened since
the communist state's recent missile and nuclear tests. The U.N. Security Council
responded to those actions by slapping Pyongyang with tougher sanctions.
But North Korea did not send its foreign minister to this year's ARF. Pyongyang
is instead being represented by Pak Kun-gwang, a lower-level ambassador.
A proposed alternative was to organize a five-way gathering without the North.
China, Pyongyang's closest ally which hosts the six-party talks, has opposed the
idea and South Korean officials said a five-way meeting is unlikely to be held
here.
"Instead, the five parties will be able to consult on North Korea through
bilateral meetings," said a Seoul foreign ministry official accompanying Minister
Yu.
The U.S. secretary plans to hold separate meetings with the foreign ministers of
China, Japan, and Russia, he added.
Clinton has made clear that she has no plans to meet bilaterally with North
Korean officials on the sidelines of the security forum. But other U.S. officials
may do so in an effort to win the release of two American journalists detained in
North Korea, according to diplomatic sources.
Laura Ling and Euna Lee of U.S. Internet news outlet Current TV were arrested in
March near the China-North Korea border reporting on North Korean defectors. They
were convicted of unspecified "great crimes" and sentenced to 12 years of hard
labor.
Arriving at the Phuket airport on Tuesday, North Korean delegates left room for a
surprise meeting with the U.S.
When asked whether they will meet with the U.S. side, Ri Tong-il, director of the
disarmament department at the North's foreign ministry, reportedly said "it will
depend on the situation."
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)