ASEAN Regional Forum to welcome US – DPRK peace talks

Ministers attending the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Bangkok, Thailand in August will welcome recent talks between leaders of the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

US President Donald Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un meet at their summit held in Hanoi in February

They will call for dialogue among concern countries to realise the denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula.

The ARF, to be held in the Thai capital on August 2, gathers 27 foreign ministers, including those of the US, China, DPRK, the Republic of Korea, Russia and Japan, to discuss security issues.

The draft chairman’s statement seen by Japan-based Kyodo News welcomes initiatives and efforts made by the RoK, the US and China to promote dialogue with the DPRK.

"We urged all concerned parties to resume peaceful dialogue and continue working toward the realisation of lasting peace and stability in a denuclearised Korean Peninsula, including through the full and expeditious implementation of the Panmunjeom Declaration, the Pyongyang Joint Declaration and the Joint Statement by the US and DPRK leaders," it said.

At their summit on April 27 last year, DPRK leader Kim Jong-un and RoK President Moon Jae In issued the Panmunjeom Declaration calling for denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and efforts to formally end the 1950-1953 Korean War.

In their summit last September, the two leaders signed the Pyongyang Joint Declaration, in which Kim pledged to Moon that the DPRK will permanently dismantle its major nuclear complex if the US takes corresponding actions.

The ARF comprises the 10 ASEAN states, China, Japan, the United States, Russia, DPRK, the RoK, India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the European Union, Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh, East Timor, Mongolia and Sri Lanka.

VNA