NK's top diplomat to attend ASEAN forum

By Yi Whan-woo

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho is likely to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) slated for July 26 in Laos, according to diplomatic sources, Monday.

If true, this will be Ri’s first appearance at a multilateral meeting since taking office in May.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will also attend, but the two are not likely to meet.

This year’s ARF will attract diplomats from 27 countries, including all members of the six-party talks aimed at Pyongyang’s denuclearization as well as the 10 ASEAN-member states.

“It is seen that Ri will concentrate on promoting North Korea’s propaganda as a nuclear weapons state,” a source said on condition of anonymity.

Ri, a career diplomat, was North Korea’s top representative for the six-party talks that involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.

Yun is expected to urge international support to better implement the U.N. Security Council’s latest sanctions on Pyongyang.

Ri’s possible visit will come at a time when North Korea has been seeking to strengthen its ties with its traditional allies to counterbalance Seoul’s efforts to accelerate Pyongyang’s international isolation.

In May through June, President Park Geun-hye and Yun visited Iran, Cuba, Uganda, China, Bulgaria and Russia ― which all have had diplomatic ties with North Korea.

North Korea has stepped up its nuclear weapons program this year. It fired a Hwasong-10 intermediate range ballistic missile on June 22, after carrying out its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 4 and a series of ballistic missile tests afterwards.

The Kim Jong-un regime invited Salvador Valdes Mesa, a special envoy to Cuban President Raul Castro to Pyongyang last week.

Ri also visited Beijing in late May as Kim’s special envoy and met Chinese President Xi Jinping.