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Korea, China, Japan to Tackle NK Issue

2003-06-17

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Foreign ministers of South Korea, China and Japan will discuss the North Korean nuclear issue and other matters of regional importance at their meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia Tuesday.

Meeting on the sideline of the 10th ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Regional Forum, or ARF, the talks are hoped to provide South Korea and Japan _ just back from a meeting with the U.S. in Hawaii to coordinate the North Korea policy _ a chance to hear China's view on the five-plus multilateral talks they proposed to North Korea.

South Korea's Yoon Young-kwan, China's Li Zhaoxing and Japan's Yoriko Kawaguchi are also expected to tackle economic issues such as promoting cooperation in the IT sector, and launch preparations for a three-way summit in October and an East Asia Forum Seoul is to host around December.

After their talks in the morning, they will join the 10 ASEAN nations in the ASEAN Plus Three foreign ministers' talks to be held this afternoon.

On Wednesday, more than 20 Asia-Pacific leaders, including those from the U.S., Russia and the European Union, will convene at this year's main ARF foreign ministers' meeting, where the simmering North Korean nuclear crisis, alongside terrorism and Myanmar, is expected to top the agenda.

"Since the ARF works on a consensual basis, and North Korea is a participant, the joint communique after the meeting will not contain anything the North can't accept," a Foreign Affairs-Trade Ministry official said.

North Korea, dashing hopes for meaningful discussion on the nuclear issue, said it will not send Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun, who attended last year's ARF meeting. Diplomat Ho Jong will come instead, Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central News Agency said.

Two statements on maritime security and anti-terrorism are expected to be adopted at the end of the one-day ARF session.

Member countries of the ASEAN include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The ARF comprises the ASEAN plus Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, Mongolia, South and North Korea, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Russia and the United States.

Source : www.korea.net