ASEAN pushes resumed Korean security talks; Outcries against NKorean actions

JEJU ISLAND, June 1 (TNA, Agencies) – Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Monday proposed an Asian region security meeting to help revive the stalled six-party denuclearisation talks after North Korea’s nuclear test last week and ballistic missile launches sparked an international outcry.
 
Alarmed South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Southeast Asian national leaders are expected to jointly call on North Korea to cease its “provocative acts” when the South-Korean-ASEAN Summit opens Monday afternoon.
 
President Lee and Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the test was not in the spirit of nonproliferation schedules under consideration and “undermines peace and stability not only in East Asia but also in the whole world,” according to a news release from South Korea’s presidential office, which said the test violated both UN resolutions and six-party nuclear disarmament agreements.
 
Thai prime minister Abhisit offered the already scheduled Asian Regional Forum (ARF) summit between the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other countries including China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Russia and the United States – scheduled in July in Thailand as an appropriate and timely venue to consider Korean peacemaking.
 
Last Monday North Korea tested a nuclear bomb thought to be four times as powerful as its first three years ago.
 
The blast at that time touched of worldwide protests. UN Security Council members are reported to be negotiating new sanctions against North Korea.
 
Mr. Abhisit, as current ASEAN chair, said on the sidelines of the South Korea-ASEAN summit, that the ARF forum could be a venue to help push for resumption of the six-party talks seeking a solution to Korean peninsula security issues.
 
“We think the six-party nations really should resume their talks,” he said. “As far as ASEAN is concerned we have the ASEAN Regional Forum, all six countries are present there so we do what we can to make sure the talks resume,” Mr. Abhisit said.
 
The two-day summit between the 10 members of ASEAN and South Korea officially begins on Monday afternoon amid tight security at Seogwipo on the island of Jeju with North Korea’s underground nuclear test and a series of short-range missile launches are high on the agenda along with economic issues. (TNA, Agencies)

 

Full text of keynote speech by Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Abhisit in Jeju, South Korea on May 31, 2009, on “Change, Challenge, and Collaboration for Asia’s Prosperity” on the eve of the ASEAN-Korea CEO Summit