[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] Attention is focused on what message North Korea will deliver at the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which will be held face-to-face for the first time in three years next month.
South Korea, the United States, and Japan are attending the ARF and are expected to issue strong warnings against North Korea's nuclear weapons advancement and missile provocations, anticipating North Korea's response to the trilateral cooperation.
According to diplomatic sources on the 24th, the ARF Foreign Ministers' Meeting is scheduled to be held face-to-face in Cambodia next month for the first time in three years. Due to COVID-19, the meetings were held virtually for two consecutive years in 2021 and 2022, but it has returned to an in-person format after three years.
The key point of interest at this meeting is whether Choe Son-hui, North Korea's Foreign Minister, will attend. The ARF is the only multilateral security consultation body that North Korea participates in. Choe recently became North Korea's top diplomat.
However, there are observations that Choe's attendance is unlikely due to COVID-19 within North Korea. This is because strong border closures have been in place since the early stages of the pandemic.
North Korea's new ambassador to China was appointed early last year and took office in Beijing, but the previous ambassador is still reportedly unable to return to North Korea.
The newly appointed Chinese ambassador to North Korea last year has also yet to set foot in North Korean territory.
Accordingly, it is widely known that North Korea is likely to send An Kwang-il, ambassador to the ASEAN mission, to the ARF meeting.
Meanwhile, South Korea and the United States are closely coordinating their North Korea policies ahead of the ARF.
On the 22nd, Kim Gun, South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy and head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Peace and Security Negotiation Headquarters on the Korean Peninsula, and Sung Kim, the U.S. Special Representative for North Korea at the State Department, met in Jakarta, Indonesia, to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation in responding to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, reflecting this context.
Sung Kim also serves as the U.S. ambassador to Indonesia. The South Korean government is drafting a roadmap for North Korea policy through consultations among related ministries and close cooperation with the U.S., and the recent meeting between the chief nuclear envoys of South Korea and the U.S. involved detailed and in-depth discussions on this roadmap.
The government is preparing a ‘bold plan’ that includes phased reciprocal measures such as economic cooperation and security guarantees for North Korea, depending on progress in denuclearization.
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