Thailand proposes ARF be platform for Korean talks

BANGKOK, January 28 (TNA) - Thailand has proposed that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) contribute to bring about peace to the Korean Peninsula through negotiations on its platform, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), a regional security mechanism. Thailand’s Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Sihasak Puangketkaew made the proposal in Bangkok on Monday during an East Asia Round Table Series 2014, themed “ASEAN, Thailand and the Korean Peninsula:A need for a new security arrangement in East Asia”. Sihasak stated that the ASEAN bloc, in which Thailand is a member country, could participate in bringing peace and stability to East Asia under its ARF framework, as all parties involving in the so-called six-party talks, aimed to stop North Korea's nuclear ambition, all take part in the Asian-Pacific security forum. Sihasak assessed that sound relations the 10-member ASEAN has with the two Koreas and the major powers involving in the six-party talks, including China, Japan, Russia and the United States, should enable ASEAN to propose the AFR platform for talks to find out a solution to long-time tension in the Korean Peninsula. The two-Korean conflict has emerged since 1950. Pyongyang’s three tests of its nuclear programs since 2006 have intensified the tension, while the six-party talks have been stalled since late 2008 as North Korea has boycotted the talks in retaliation against the United Nations Security Council's condemnation of its nuclear program. ARF, consisting of 26 member countries plus the 27-member European Union (EU), is one of a few international stages in which North Korea has taken part. The senior Thai official acknowledged, however, that a big challenge ASEAN needs to address is to strengthen its consensus principle and unity among all member countries to consolidate its status and roles to help bring about peace and stability to Asia and the Pacific, including those in the Korean Peninsula. The East Asia Round Table Series 2014 was organized by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in conjunction with the Institute of East Asian Studies, Thammasat University, in which academics and foreign affairs experts gathered for a discussion on possible roles of Thailand and ASEAN in resolving tension in the Korean Peninsula.(TNA)