N. Korea seeks minimal criticism from ARF members

By Lee Chi-dong

PHUKET, Thailand, July 22 (Yonhap) -- North Korea will apparently be on the defensive at Asia's largest security forum to open on this resort island later this week, faced with a chorus of international condemnation over its missile and nuclear ambitions, officials said Wednesday.

Ahead of attending the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), slated to begin Thursday, U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton repeatedly voiced worries about the reported
transfer of nuclear technology from North Korea to Myanmar.
"The threat that I have always worried about first and foremost is the
proliferation of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction," Clinton
reportedly said in a television interview. "So obviously we are very concerned
about North Korea and recent reports about perhaps their dealings with what we
call Burma."
Her comments add pressure to North Korea, already stricken by a set of U.N.
Security Council sanctions for its recent nuclear test.
This year's ARF, a meeting of top diplomats from the 10 ASEAN members, the U.S.,
China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, and a dozen other nations, is expected to
issue a statement criticizing Pyongyang's belligerent stance and calling for it
to return to the six-way talks on its nuclear program.
"We expect the international community to deliver a clear warning message once
again to North Korea," a South Korean delegate said, asking not to be named.
North Korea is also a member of the ARF.
The other ARF members are likely to reaffirm their will to enforce U.N. Security
Council Resolution 1874 that imposes a package of arms embargo and financial
sanctions on the North, he added.
In response, the North is expected to try to justify its recent missile launches
and atomic bomb detonation as well as a decision to quit the disarmament talks.
North Korea's chief representative to the forum hurriedly met with Thai Foreign
Minister Kasit Piromya on Tuesday night shortly after arriving in Phuket.
Thailand chairs this year's ASEAN meetings including the ARF.
"It is true that we requested the meeting and had it last night," a North Korean
embassy official said on the condition of anonymity, without giving other
details.
Amb. Pak Kun-gwang, who leads the North's five-member delegation, asked for
Thailand to help Pyongyang defend itself from criticism by other nations,
according to the Thai minister's aides.
They quoted Pak as saying "We need to make sure the meeting's peace-building
objectives are met and that he would not let any ARF members use the forum to
attack other members."
The embassy official told Yonhap News Agency that the North is also trying to
arrange a meeting with China and other nations.
Meanwhile, Pak and other delegates from the communist nation have been elusive
despite an army of reporters and camera crew waiting for them in front of their
hotel.
Contacted by Yonhap by phone, Pak refused to give any comment. "I don't want to
talk to you now," he said and hung up the phone.
Earlier this week, the foreign ministers from the 10 ASEAN member countries had a
preliminary meeting and criticized the North's recent underground nuclear test
and missile launches.
"We urged the DPRK (North Korea) to fully comply with its obligations and
relevant UNSC (sanctions) resolutions," they said at the Joint Communique of the
42nd ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting issued on Monday.
"We also urged all concerned parties to return to the six-party talks process as
soon as possible and fully implement their commitments made in previous rounds of
the six-party talks, which remain the main mechanism for achieving peace and
stability on the Korean Peninsula," the statement read.
South Korean officials said the wordings are expected to be watered down to some
extent in the final document to sum up the results of the 16th ARF meeting on
Thursday, as it will be attended by the North Korean delegation.