We have detected that the browser you are using is no longer supported. As a result, some content may not display correctly.
We suggest that you upgrade to the latest version of any of the following browsers:
close notification
US S
ecretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads to Malaysia today
where she may meet North Korea's foreign minister in the first
high-level contact since the North Koreans tested missiles in
defiance of international appeals.
Rice and Paek Nam Sun are taking part in the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meeting in Kuala Lumpur this week.
Asean wants North Korea to use the forum in the Malaysian capital
for multilateral talks on its nuclear weapons program.
“We want to discuss security issues on Northeast Asia,''
Christopher Hill, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asia
and the Pacific, said yesterday in Kuala Lumpur. “We want to
discuss the future shape of Northeast Asia so we think we need to
have a discussion about that here in Kuala Lumpur.” Rice is
seeking to boost cooperation with Southeast Asian countries on
security issues and win support on the US response to the Middle
East conflict and North Korea's nuclear weapons ambitions. North
Korea fired seven missiles that landed in the Sea of Japan on July
5, including a long-range Taepodong-2 that US military officials
said may be capable of reaching Alaska.
Foreign ministers of the 10-member Asean are meeting today and
tomorrow with their counterparts from countries such as China,
South Korea, North Korea, Japan, the US, the EU, Russia, Australia,
New Zealand and Canada. Rice will hold a media briefing tomorrow at
5:05 pm with Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar.
The last round of six-nation talks aimed at dismantling North
Korea's nuclear program ended in November without agreement after
the parties signed a September 2005 declaration calling for a
nuclear-free Korean peninsula. The forum involves the US, North
Korea, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia.
“I have conveyed the Asean decision to South Korea and China
for all the members of six parties to get together since they're
all here,” Syed Hamid said yesterday. “None of them
seemed to have objected to that. So, if there is a willingness on
the part of six-party members to get together, then we just provide
them the facility.” Ministers will hold one-on-one talks in
the event there is no formal meeting of the six nations, Syed Hamid
said. “The South Koreans said they would like to have a
bilateral with the North Koreans.'' The United Nations Security
Council on July 15 adopted a resolution demanding North Korea
suspend its missile program and barring the nation from acquiring
or selling missile technology.
North Korea is refusing to return to the six-nation talks until the
US removes sanctions it imposed because of alleged money laundering
and counterfeiting by North Korean companies.
North Korea's Ambassador to the UN, Pak Gil Yon, told the Security
Council his government rejected the resolution and would continue
with missile launches as a deterrent to US and Japanese aggression
and to maintain a balance of power on the Korean peninsula.
China has rejected any talks at the Asean forum unless North Korea
is involved. “China is very interested in maintaining a
momentum of the six-party process,” Hill said. “But
like us, too, they understand that we can't have a situation where
North Korea boycotting the six-party process means that the rest of
us cannot talk.'' Multilateral talks are important and ministers
here need to be “flexible,” Hill said. “To see
North East Asia, which is so economically dynamic, and to see the
problems created by North Korea that prevent any kind of political
or security processes from being developed, is frankly something
that we all ought to try to address.” Rice's visit to
Malaysia comes after her trips to Lebanon, Israel and Rome where
she sought to win acceptance of an international force for southern
Lebanon that could help end fighting between Israel and
Hezbollah.
The conflict, now in its third week, has resulted in the deaths of
392 Lebanese and 41 Israelis.
Hezbollah, formed in 1982, has claimed credit or been linked to
scores of attacks on Israelis and Americans, including rocket
attacks on Israeli towns, the 1983 bombing that killed 241 US
soldiers in Beirut, and the 1994 attack that killed 95 at a Jewish
community center in Buenos Aires. The US and Israel have designated
Hezbollah a terrorist organization.
Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi earlier this week
criticized Israel for using military force against Lebanon and the
Palestinians. Asean foreign ministers called for an immediate
cease-fire.
“In both situations, it is aggravating and threatening peace
and security overall,” Malaysia's Syed Hamid said yesterday
in Kuala Lumpur. “We are very shocked that nothing can be
done. The US can take some measures in order to deal with the
present crisis.”