A group of 10 Southeast Asian countries remains firm against North Korea’s nuclear weapons program as it poses a grave threat to regional peace, but has a reserved attitude toward action on Pyongyang’s human rights conditions, officials said Friday.
All members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have diplomatic ties with both South and North Korea, but traditionally, ASEAN had more tilted toward Pyongyang in the past as several countries shared a historic experience of socialism.
But as Seoul and ASEAN have deepened their economic relations and the North has continued missile and nuclear provocations, ASEAN has become more resolute against the North’s nuclear programs, they said.
When Pyongyang conducted a nuclear test in February last year, top diplomats from 26 Asia-Pacific countries and the European Union called for North Korea to denuclearize.
At this year’s ARF meeting, the foreign ministers called for “immediate steps towards denuclearization” on the Korean Peninsula, stressing the need to resume the long-stalled six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear programs.
On the same token, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and the ASEAN leaders said in a joint statement following their commemorative summit that they are committed to continue efforts to achieve the early denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner.
“In this regard, we express our concern over the recent developments on the Korean Peninsula, including the testing of ballistic missiles,” the statement showed.
They urged North Korea to fully comply with international obligations under all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and commitments shown in a deal adopted at the six-party talks on Sept. 19, 2005. At that time, the North had agreed to end its nuclear programs in exchange for aid and security guarantees.
“We also highlight the importance of enhancing dialogue and creating necessary conditions for the resumption of the six-party talks which would pave the way for the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization.”
The six-party talks involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia have been dormant since late 2008 when Pyongyang walked out of negotiations.
But when it comes to the North’s human rights issue, the Philippines and Thailand were the only countries among ASEAN that voted for the passage of a United Nations resolution on the North’s human rights violations. Laos and Myanmar opposed the vote while another six nations in the region abstained.
A U.N. General Assembly committee adopted a resolution calling for the referral of the North’s human rights violations to the International Criminal Court (ICC) last month.
The stance by the Southeast Asian nations toward the rights issue may be connected to criticism they have received over their own human rights conditions.
ASEAN’s diplomatic style, usually called the “ASEAN Way,” was also seen as another factor in refraining from intervening in the internal affairs of other countries, they added. (Yonhap)
