Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha (back row, center) poses for a photo with other participants in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) foreign minister’s meeting at the Singapore Expo Convention Centre on Aug. 4.
By Kim Young Shin
Photos = Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha attended the 25th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Singapore on Aug. 4 and held bilateral meetings with her counterparts from other major countries, such as the U.S., China, Russia and Japan, to confirm the global community’s support for complete and swift implementation of the agreement made at the Inter-Korean and Singapore summits.
Kang held bilateral talks with foreign ministers from 12 countries, including the U.S. and China, and attended five multilateral meetings, including the ARF foreign minister’s meeting and the East Asia Summit foreign minister’s meeting, from July 31 to Aug. 5. They discussed ways to cooperate on complete denuclearization and to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula.
“Although there wasn’t an official ministerial meeting between South and North Korea, I met North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho during the gala dinner on Aug. 3 and talked about the situation on the Korean Peninsula after the Inter-Korean and the Singapore summits, and about progress made between the North and the U.S.,” said the minister.
At the event, diplomats from Pyeongyang and Washington also engaged in “letter diplomacy.” Prior to the ARF foreign minister meeting on Aug. 4, Sung Kim, the U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, handed U.S. President Donald Trump’s reply to North Korean Chairman of the State Affairs Commission Kim Jong Un to the North Korean minister.
Foreign ministers from 27 ARF member nations attend a meeting at the Singapore Expo Convention Centre on Aug. 4.
During the annual ARF foreign ministers’ meeting, Minister Kang called for active support from the 27 ARF member nations, saying, “The two Inter-Korean summits and the NK-U.S. summit accelerated the journey toward complete denuclearization and toward peace on the Korean Peninsula.”
The meeting was attended by the foreign ministers from 10 ASEAN countries, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho.
Singapore, this year’s chair of the ARF, published a statement that urged North Korea to comply with its commitments to complete denuclearization and to refrain from further nuclear or missile tests.
The statement said, “The ministers urged all concerned parties to continue working toward the realization of lasting peace and stability on a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, including through the full and expeditious implementation of the Panmunjeom Declaration and the Joint Statement by the U.S. and North Korean leaders.”
The ARF is the biggest Asia-Pacific multilateral forum for official consultations on peace and security issues, such as disaster relief, ocean security, anti-terrorism and transnational crimes. It is also the only regional multilateral security meeting North Korea attends.
ysk1111@korea.kr
