Government to Deliver Strong Pressure Message on North Korea at Next Month's ARF

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] Our government is expected to deliver a strong message to North Korea through cooperation between South Korea and the United States, as well as South Korea, the United States, and Japan, at the upcoming ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) next month.

Since this ARF will be held face-to-face for the first time in three years and North Korea will attend, it is anticipated that South Korea, the United States, and Japan will confront North Korea and China over the situation on the Korean Peninsula in the same venue.

According to diplomatic sources on the 31st, Foreign Minister Park Jin will consecutively attend ASEAN-related foreign ministers' meetings held in Cambodia from the 3rd to the 5th of next month.

Foreign Minister Park Jin is attending the government questioning session on politics, diplomacy, unification, and security held at the National Assembly plenary session on the 25th, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

The Korea-ASEAN, ASEAN+3 (South Korea, China, Japan) meetings will be held on the 3rd, and the East Asia Summit (EAS) and ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) will take place on the 4th.

Among these, the ARF, which North Korea attends, is analyzed to be the most important from our government's perspective. The ARF is the only regional security consultative body that North Korea participates in, involving South Korea, the 10 ASEAN countries, the United States, China, Japan, the European Union (EU), and a total of 27 countries.

Due to the impact of COVID-19, this meeting, held face-to-face for the first time since 2019, is expected to address the North Korean nuclear issue as a major agenda item.

Minister Park is expected to emphasize the so-called ‘3D’ strategy, which involves deterring North Korea’s nuclear threats, dissuading its nuclear development intentions, and deploying diplomacy simultaneously, in response to North Korea’s repeated missile launches and the trends of the 7th nuclear test, along with other provocations.

From North Korea, Ambassador An Kwang-il, the Permanent Representative to ASEAN and Ambassador to Indonesia, is expected to attend.

North Korea has recently shown an aggressive stance in inter-Korean and US relations, with Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party, directly criticizing President Yoon Suk-yeol, so attention is focused on what statements North Korea will make.

However, our government is expected to proceed with pressure on North Korea regardless of North Korea’s position. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently working to reflect South Korea’s position as much as possible in the draft chairman’s statement to be released after the ARF foreign ministers' meeting.

A Foreign Ministry official said, “At the ARF, our government and North Korea will engage in intense diplomatic battles behind the scenes to reflect each other’s positions,” and added, “The government is expected to prepare a message of pressure on North Korea together with the United States and Japan.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.