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The foreign ministers of Southeast Asian countries and regional powers attending the ASEAN Regional Forum on Thursday called for a quick resolution of the inter-Korean dispute over the fatal shooting of a South Korean tourist in Mt. Kumgang earlier this month. Singapore, chairing a meeting of chief diplomats from 27 countries, in a statement said the ministers ¡°expressed their concern over the shooting of the (South Korean) tourist at the Mt. Kumgang resort area, and their hope that the incident would be resolved expeditiously.¡±
A government official said the statement, which came in an international conference where the North Korean foreign minister was present, would play a positive role in solving the problem.
During the ARF Retreat, a closed-door meeting in the morning, Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan urged North Korea to allow a joint investigation of the case and prevent such incidents from happening again. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was quoted as expressing hope that the North ¡°will take up the invitation of South Korea to have direct talks concerning the tragic death¡± of the South Korean tourist.
But North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun was unhappy that the matter was raised in an international forum and insisted the issue was strictly between the two Koreas. The North reportedly put up resistance to inclusion of the matter in the chairman¡¯s statement but eventually bowed to an absolute majority of the 27 ministers who sided with South Korea.
The statement added the ministers ¡°welcomed the 2007 Inter-Korean Summit as an important milestone toward consolidating peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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