N. Korea, Myanmar to dominate Asia’s main security dialogue
Inflation on agenda:
SINGAPORE: Asia’s annual security dialogue with the United
States and Europe kicks off Sunday, weighed down by the recalcitrant
regimes in North Korea and Myanmar, as well as spiraling food prices and
disaster management.
A bubbling border confrontation between Cambodia and Thailand is the
latest in a long list of security concerns facing Asian foreign
ministers as they get together for the region’s premier conference.
It begins Sunday with a working dinner of foreign ministers from the
10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
They will hold a series of meetings with counterparts from
neighboring countries, culminating in the main event Thursday, known as
the ASEAN Regional Forum. The ARF comprises ASEAN and 16 countries plus
the European Union.
In between will be the most keenly watched event on the sidelines of
the conference: a meeting of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun and their counterparts from
China, Japan, South Korea and Russia, who are taking part in the
six-party talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
It will be the highest level of contact between the six countries
since 2003 when negotiations began to get North Korea to dismantle its
nuclear program in exchange for political and economic incentives.
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said he does not
expect Rice and Pak to meet bilaterally, but expects “there will be an
informal ministerial level meeting of the six-party ministers.”
He said the meeting is not expected to yield “specific outcomes.”
The optimism over North Korea notwithstanding, the forum is clearly
worried about the security situation in the region.
“Despite the ARF’s best efforts ... security threat and challenges
that could undermine the peace, security and stability of the region
still exist,” said a draft of the statement that will be issued at the
end of the meeting. The draft was obtained by The Associated Press.
Singapore Sunday, AP
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