Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) yesterday expressed their welcome to the resumption
of six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue in
Beijing.
In a final joint communiqué issued Tuesday at the end of the
38th ASEAN ministerial meeting in Vientiane, the foreign ministers
hoped that concerned parties could find solutions acceptable to all
sides, toward a nuclear-weapons-free Korean Peninsula, on the basis
of the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and equality
that will contribute to the maintenance of peace, security and
stability in the wider Asia-Pacific region.
"ASEAN reaffirmed its support to the process and reiterated the
potential role of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), as the primary
forum for dialogue on peace and security issues in the region, in
contributing to the momentum of finding a solution to the Korean
Peninsula (nuclear) issue," the ministers said.
They also welcomed the recent resumption of the inter-Korean
dialogue. "In this regard, we expressed the hope that the dialogue
will continue in accordance with the spirit and letter of the June
15 North-South Declaration," they said.
The one-day annual ASEAN ministerial meeting was attended by
foreign ministers from 10-member bloc that groups Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, the Philippines,
Singapore and Vietnam.
(Xinhua News Agency July 27, 2005)