Park Jin Departs to Attend ASEAN Meeting... Diplomatic Efforts on Korean Peninsula Including North Korean Nuclear Issue

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] Foreign Minister Park Jin will depart for Cambodia on the 3rd to attend ASEAN-related foreign ministers' meetings, including the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which will be attended by the North Korean delegation.

Our government is expected to deliver a strong message against North Korea through cooperation between South Korea and the United States, as well as the South Korea-US-Japan trilateral cooperation, at the ARF on the 4th.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 3rd, Minister Park will depart through Incheon Airport in the evening and arrive in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where the meeting will be held.

On the morning of the 4th, Minister Park will explain the new government's ASEAN policy to the 10 ASEAN countries at the Korea-ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting and seek future-oriented cooperation measures.

At the ASEAN+3 (South Korea, China, Japan) meeting, they will discuss cooperation measures for economic recovery after COVID-19. Bilateral talks with about 10 countries including ASEAN members will also be pursued. On the 5th, he will attend the East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

Among the schedule, the ARF Foreign Ministers' Meeting is the most notable.

The ARF will be attended by Minister Park, foreign ministers of ASEAN countries, as well as key foreign ministers such as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Participating countries are expected to make every effort to convey their national positions on regional issues such as North Korea's nuclear program, the South China Sea, Myanmar, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Park Jin is departing for Japan through the international terminal of Gimpo Airport on the 18th. Minister Park is scheduled to hold the first Korea-Japan foreign ministers' meeting since the launch of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi in Tokyo. /Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

Especially since this takes place right after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, the confrontation between the US and China is expected to deepen further at this ARF.

North Korea is reported to send Ambassador An Kwang-il, the Permanent Representative to ASEAN and Ambassador to Indonesia, instead of Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui to this ARF.

Accordingly, our government plans to emphasize the gravity of the situation on the Korean Peninsula and reaffirm the goal of North Korea's complete denuclearization at this ARF.

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 together, in light of North Korea's repeated missile launches and trends toward a seventh nuclear test.

On the other hand, North Korea is expected to issue a response message together with China.

Recently, North Korea criticized President Yoon Suk-yeol by name without title and strongly condemned the upcoming South Korea-US joint military exercises scheduled from the 22nd of this month to the 1st of next month as "acts that escalate military tensions," so it is expected to argue that South Korea and the US are responsible for the escalation of the crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

In this context, the extent to which our government's position on the North Korean nuclear issue can be reflected in the chairman's statement at the ARF is the biggest point of interest.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently working to reflect South Korea's position as much as possible in the drafting negotiations of the chairman's statement to be released after the ARF Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 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 strong message of pressure against North Korea together with the United States and Japan."

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