President Lee Myung-Bak and leaders of the 10 member states of the ASEAN nations, who are now attending the ASEAN-Korea Commemorative Summit in Jeju, adopted a Joint Press Statement denouncing North Korea's nuclear test on June 2.
"We re-confirmed the 9th ASEM and 17th ASEAN-EU foreign ministers' meeting since the North's recent provocations were obvious threats to the UN Security Council resolution and agreements of the six-party talks," the statement said. "We also emphasize that a nuclear-free Korean peninsula and peaceful resolution to the nuclear issue are very important to maintain peace and stability in the Asia Pacific region. So we expressed our full support to resume the six-party talks."
"We hope that the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) will be able to contribute to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and at the same time we request all related countries to share our view based on the current situation because it is a threat to the peace of not only Northeast Asia but also the world," the statement added.
Meanwhile, Presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said: "It's unprecedented for the 10 ASEAN member nations to reach such a consensus over the North Korean issue. This is very meaningful, given that many of the ASEAN nations have maintained diplomatic relations with the North." "Some of them are even North Korea's allies," he added.
