The looming threat from North Korean nuclear weapons will likely be on the agenda of Asian leaders during next week’s Asean Summit here, a top South Korean diplomat said Wednesday.
“We are deeply concerned about North Korea’s nuclear weapons, and we want to solve it through dialogue,” said the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The issue will likely be discussed during the Asean Plus Korea meeting and the Asean Plus Three meeting of Asean, South Korea, China and Japan, he said.
Foreign Minister Hor Namhong also told the Agence France-Presse news service Tuesday that the Asean leaders would discuss North Korean nuclear capacity. “The view between themselves will be how to approach North Korea on this subject,” he said.
No talks are expected between the leaders and the North Korean embassy here, he told AFP. Cambodia is one of a handful of countries that has enjoyed normal relations with North Korea in recent decades.
The US revealed two weeks ago that North Korea had admitted to developing enriched uranium. The reclusive communist regime had agreed in 1994 to shut down its weapons program in return for help in building nuclear reactors. Asian diplomats worry that the nuclear buildup might prompt an East Asian nuclear arms race.
While demanding that North Korea disarm, South Korean President Kim Dae Jung last week dismissed military action or economic sanctions, according to press reports. He said that dialogue was “the only way to resolve this matter,” The Associated Press reported.
But US diplomats are rejecting overtures at dialogue, demanding that North Korea disarm first. North Korean officials say that dialogue will not begin until the US signs a nonaggression pact.
Often dismissed as irrelevant following the Asian economic crisis of 1997, Asean appears to be gaining importance as a forum for high-level political discussions.
During the Asean security summit in Brunei in July, US Secretary of State Colin Powell met on the sidelines with North Korea’s foreign minister to help defuse tensions stemming from a deadly naval battle between the Koreas in June.
