DPRK Joins ARF

DPRK Joins ARF, Pledges to Promote
Regional Security, Cooperative Relations

DPRK Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun (right) shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Jul. 28 prior to their historic bilateral talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting held in Bangkok, Thailand.

The DPRK joined for the first time in Asia’s leading security forum as a formal member and vowed to establish friendly and cooperative relations with Asia and Western countries and to make a positive contribution to the regional security in Asia-Pacific region. The Seventh ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) was held on Jul. 27 in Bangkok, Thailand, participated in by the 10 ASEAN members and 13 other countries and organizations in the Asia-Pacific region.

Making the DPRK’s debut in the ARF, Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun, a highlight of the forum, in crucial meetings with his counterparts, reaffirmed north Korea’s co-efforts with south Korea to work for reconciliation and reunification, agreed on the resumption of normalization talks with Japan and had the first-ever ministerial talks with the U.S. to improve their ties.

He also met the foreign ministers of China, Russia, Canada, Thailand, New Zealand and the Philippines, as Pyongyang’s “multiple” or “omni-directional” diplomacy made splash in the international arena.

Expressing its satisfaction with the “positive developments on the Korean Peninsula,” ARF countries “welcomed the participation for the first time of the DPRK in the 7th ARF in Bangkok.” In the chairman’s statement issued on Jul. 27, member countries also welcomed the historic inter-Korean summit and expressed their support for the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration, saying that they were of the view that the summit represented a turning point in inter-Korean relations, and that the on-going momentum of dialogue and interaction would be carried forward with a view to achieving lasting peace and eventual reunification of the Korean Peninsula.

Pyongyang’s Multiple Diplomacy Blooms

“The DPRK government has consistently pursued the policy of establishing diplomatic relations with those countries which were hostile towards the DPRK and at war,” Paek said in his speech at ARF. Paek said the DPRK’s admission to the forum is a product of the shared desire and expectation of the forum’s member nations and the DPRK to develop relations among the countries, promote friendship and harmony and cooperate for peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region. Referring to the efficient role played by the forum as a stage of dialogue for regional peace and security and its signal achievements, he expressed expectation that the forum would take an unbiased approach to the issues of peace on the Korean Peninsula and Korea’s independent reunification.

In a three-day diplomatic offensive, Foreign Minister Paek held high-level meetings with a number of international diplomats and paved the way for improved relations with Western countries.

The DPRK and Canada held the first ministerial talks between foreign ministers on Jul. 26. Both sides agreed to develop the bilateral relations of friendship and cooperation, while Ottawa formally recognized Pyongyang. DPRK Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun appreciated Canada’s effort for the sustainable development, peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region. Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy welcomed the DPRK’s participation in the ARF and expressed his hope that the Korean Peninsula would be reunified independently and peacefully in the near future. According to Pyongyang’s official KCNA, a high-level Canadian delegation will soon visit the DPRK and the diplomatic contact will continue to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries as soon as possible. “This is a much anticipated moment for both countries,” Axworthy said. “I look forward to establishing official channels of diplomatic communication in order to broaden and deepen understanding and relations between the two countries.”

Foreign Minister Paek also had talks with his New Zealand counterpart Phil Goff on Jul. 28. They agreed to have working-level negotiations for the establishment of their diplomatic ties as soon as possible. Foreign Minister Goff said that the process would begin with the two countries’ Indonesian ambassadors, adding that New Zealand was looking to complete the process “by the end of this year or early next year.”

High-Level Talks with U.S., Japan, S. Korea: Taking Step toward Better Ties

It was the first meeting between a DPRK foreign minister and a U.S. secretary of state and the highest-level talks between Pyongyang and Washington. The talks, which lasted for over an hour, “constitutes a substantively modest but symbolically historic step away from the sterility and hostility of the past and toward a more direct and promising approach to resolving differences,” U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said after the meeting. “I am somewhat more hopeful than before for a long-term stability on the Korean Peninsula and throughout the region.”

Though details of their discussion remain to be informed, both sides “shared the view that the recent situation prevailing in the Korean Peninsula is creating an atmosphere favorable for the improvement of the DPRK-U.S. relations and the preservation of peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region,” the KCNA reported. Diplomatic sources said both sides exchanged views on the early realization of the proposed high-level talks aimed at normalizing ties as well as holding another foreign ministers’ talk on the sidelines of the U.N. Millennium Summit in early September. The two ministers also reportedly discussed security-related matters including missile issues, a recent diplomatic situation on the Korean Peninsula after the inter-Korean summit.

In a favorable atmosphere in the Korean Peninsula after the Pyongyang summit held in June, north and south Korean foreign ministers pledged to cooperate in the international community. “In order to enhance inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation, the two sides agreed to promote mutual cooperation in the international arena,” said a joint statement issued after the meeting between foreign ministers of north and south Korea on Jul 26.

In their 40-minute talks, held during the intermission of the forum, the north’s Paek Nam Sun and the south’s Lee Jong Bin, highly praising the outcome of the inter-Korean summit, said that the summit “carried great significance as a milestone in increasing mutual understanding and trust, developing inter-Korean relations and realizing peaceful unification on the Korean Peninsula.” The two officials said they will continue working harmoniously toward the goals set by their leaders at the inter-Korean summit, saying, “Blood is thicker than water.”

U.S. Missile Defense Plan Slammed

The latest forum was also underlined by voices of opposition to missile defense systems planned by the U.S. China, Russia, Vietnam and the DPRK denounced the U.S.-planned “National Missile Defense” and “Theater Missile Defense.” These systems risk sparking an arms race and would seriously compromise regional security and stability, Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said, denouncing the U.S., saying that it was “Cold War mentality” and it went “against the tide of our times” in an implicit reference to the U.S. Pyongyang’s official media have called Theater Missile Defenses “the biggest destabilizing military factor in East Asia.”

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