PHNOM PENH (Yonhap) -- Top diplomats of the two Koreas have pointedly shunned each other at annual security talks here, dashing hopes of a possible encounter and underscoring frozen inter-Korean relations.
The ASEAN Regional Forum has served as an important venue for discussions on North Korea. This week's forum marked the first time South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and his North Korean counterpart, Pak Ui-chun, could have held face-to-face meetings on the sidelines since the December death of North Korea's long-time ruler, Kim Jong-il.
Along with top diplomats from Southeast Asian nations and regional powers, Kim and Pak have posed for group photos several times during the forum, but did not even greet each other.
To pay a courtesy call to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday, foreign ministers trickled in along an entranceway flanked by scores of cameras. Kim and Pak entered the meeting room separately.
Between each arrival, Kim chatted with other foreign ministers. Pak simply smiled and shook hands with some ministers, including Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi. However, Kim and Pak apparently shunned each other and did not even shake hands.
It was a sharp contrast from last year's ASEAN Regional Forum in Indonesia, when the ministers held brief meetings on the sidelines after making diplomatic progress to possibly resume the six-party talks on ending the North's nuclear weapons program.