FM to use Southeast Asia visit next week to increase pressure on Pyongyang

By Yi Whan-woo

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se plans to visit two or three Southeast Asian countries next week to discuss North Korea’s threats to regional security, according to diplomatic sources, Monday.

The rising regional concerns about Pyongyang following the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s estranged half-brother Kim Jong-nam in Malaysia last month will be high on the agenda, they said.

Yun may travel to Vietnam and Cambodia to mark the 25th and 20th anniversary of their diplomatic ties with South Korea, respectively.

Yun is expected to focus on strengthening cooperation with the countries in isolating Pyongyang over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and monitoring the North’s trade of internationally-banned weapons.

“In particular, Vietnam has been closely monitoring the case as one of its nationals has been charged in Malaysia for Kim’s murder,” a diplomatic source said, referring to Doan Thi Huong, a Vietnamese woman who is among the suspects in Kim’s death.

She was charged with murder on March 1 along with Siti Aishah, an Indonesian.

Cambodia has been supporting the U.N. Security Council’s nuclear sanctions against North Korea although they have been close allies for decades.

Yun will not visit Malaysia this time.

He also might visit Sri Lanka next week and join its ceremony to mark the 40th anniversary of its diplomatic treaty with South Korea.