Indonesia Urged To Help Crisis In Korea Peninsula

Jakarta, May 17 (Antara) - South Korean Parliament has urged Indonesia to extend peace message to North Korea and to ask the country to stop its nuclear program and resolve the crisis in the Korean Peninsula. Speaking in a seminar at Borobudur Hotel here on Thursday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Indonesia-Korea diplomatic relations, the South Korean Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Park Byeong-seug asked Indonesia to communicate the matter with North Korea. Byeong-seug expressed hope that Indonesia could extend its peace message to North Korea and ask the country to stop its nuclear program and abide by international regulation. "North Korea must not proliferate its nuclear power and follow international regulation set by the United Nations before entering peace talks with South Korea," he said. Byeong-seug noted that if North Korea met these two requirements, the crisis in the Korean Peninsula could come to an end. "If North Korea proliferates its nuclear, peace process in the Korean Peninsula will be easier," he noted. The South Korean Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly added that his country would be willing to provide economic assistance to North Korea if the country does not proliferate nuclear power and followed international rules. Therefore he asked Indonesia to extend its peace message to North Korea to resolve the crisis. Byeong-seug said he believed that as a country with "middle power," Indonesia would be able to do so. Besides, he added that Indonesia could also play its role in encouraging the ASEAN countries to participate in realizing the peace in the Korean Peninsula. He also appreciated the discussion about the crisis in the Korean Peninsula during the ASEAN Summit several weeks ago, and hoped for other contribution to end the conflict. He said that in the ASEAN agenda, there was ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) which involved South Korea and North Korea, and thus the ARF was expected to gain a progress for the reconciliation of the two Koreas.