2 Koreas to go toe to toe at ARF
By Chung Min-uck
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se
South and North Korea are exerting diplomatic efforts, holding back-to-back foreign ministerial meetings on the sidelines of the annual security forum hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Brunei, Monday.
North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Brunei on Monday, a day prior to the launch of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), Asia’s top security forum, according to the South Korean Foreign Ministry..
Pak reportedly conveyed Pyongyang’s willingness to return to the six party talks.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Minister Wang said, “China will expand efforts so that relevant nations can participate in talks.”
Top diplomats from the multilateral framework, which involves the two Koreas, U.S., China, Japan and Russia, are attending the forum.
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida also held three-way talks on Monday and agreed to strengthen their coordinated approach toward North Korea’s nuclear standoff.
After months of high tensions triggered by the North’s third nuclear test in February and subsequent bellicose threats against South Korea and the U.S., North Korea appeared to be shifting toward a dialogue phase in recent weeks.
However, the two allies have stressed that the North must comply with the U.N. Security Council resolutions and abide by its international obligations before any resumption of talks can take place.
“South Korea has always been open to a dialogue but it will not have a dialogue for the sake of dialogue itself,” said Yun at the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) foreign ministers’ conference held on Sunday, adding that North Korea must first demonstrate its sincerity for talks through “concrete actions.”
Beijing, in complying with the statement urged Seoul and Washington to engage Pyongyang in dialogue without any preconditions due to concerns that pushing the North too hard can hurt its own national interests.
China is a key provider of economic aid and wields great diplomatic influence on North Korea.
Reportedly, foreign ministers from Seoul and Beijing agreed to never accept North Korea as a nuclear state but disagree on the details of achieving this goal Sunday during their bilateral meeting.
“Minister Wang called for an early resumption of the six-party talks aimed at persuading the North to give up its nuclear ambition, while Minister Yun reiterated Seoul’s stance, saying Pyongyang must demonstrate its sincerity through actions if any talks with the North could take place,” a senior diplomat who attended the meeting was quoted as saying.
Seoul and Washington have long urged Beijing to exert more pressure on Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons program.
China has been shifting its policy on North Korea following Pyongyang’s third nuclear test in February, an act of defiance against Beijing’s warning.
Meanwhile, Yun also held talks with his Japanese counterpart Kishida calling for the Japanese government to deal with historical issues in a “careful” manner so that their relations can develop.
Yun cancelled his planned visit to Japan in April as a diplomatic protest against the Japanese leaders’ visit to a controversial war shrine in Tokyo and defamatory remarks made by some politicians in Japan on former South Korean comfort women who were forced to suffer sexual slavery during World War II.