ASEAN leaders reluctant to denounce North Korea for Cheonan sinking

A giant offshore crane salvages portion of the sunken South Korean naval ship Cheonan, off Baeknyeong Island, South Korea on April 15, 2010. /AP

Jul 21, 2010

Hanoi (dpa) - Leaders of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) are reluctant to denounce North Korea for its alleged sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan, a regional foreign policy analyst said Wednesday.

Carlyle Thayer, of the Australian Defence Force Academy, said ASEAN leaders' diplomatic reluctance is consistent with what he called their longstanding policy of 'conflict avoidance.'

'When a conflict occurs between two parties, they keep their heads in the sand and want nothing to do with it,' Thayer said.

South Korea and the United States have accused North Korea of sinking the Cheonan, a claim supported by a South Korean-led team of international investigators.

The United Nations Security Council issued a unanimously approved statement on July 9 that condemned the March sinking without explicitly blaming North Korea.

The US and South Korea announced Tuesday they would conduct joint naval exercises next week.

In a joint statement released at the ASEAN Regional Forum in Hanoi, the bloc urged 'all parties concerned to exercise the utmost restraint' regarding the Cheonan sinking. But it did mention North Korea.

Thayer said Vietnam is particularly reluctant to make unilateral statements about the incident because it wants to ensure that the ASEAN meetings it is hosting are not marred by controversy.

Hanoi hopes to preserve its relations with North Korea and stay in 'America's good graces,' Thayer said.

After a meeting with South Korean officials, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong said Vietnam supported the Security Council's statement on the sinking.

Asked to comment on the planned US-South Korean naval exercises, Trong said, 'We are just following the information.'

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to attend the forum's sessions on Thursday and Friday.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Myanmar, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

In Visit, North Korea Leader Highlights Military Success, Stability

North Korean Prime Minister Kim Yong Il (L) looks at a wall statue during his tour at the national museum in Phnom Penh November 2, 2007. Kim is in Cambodia as part of his four-nation Southeast Asia trip. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

VOA Khmer Stringers
Original reports from Phnom Penh
02 November 2007

North Korean Prime Minister Kim Yong Il boasted to Honorary Cambodian People's Party President Heng Samrin of his nation's military success and its role in stability and economic growth, an adviser told VOA Khmer during meetings Friday.

Kim Yong Il—no relation to "supreme leader" King Jong Il—declined to comment on the alleged remarks.

North Korea and Cambodia signed bilateral trade and shipping agreements Thursday that built on traditional warm relations.

But Kim's visit, the first such visit in six years, gained little traction in Cambodia's whimsical press, despite the questions it could have raised on nuclear issues, as well as the political and economic value and liability of trade and shipping agreements signed between Phnom Penh and Pyongyang.

Small articles with large photos of the North Korean leader and Prime Minister Hun Sen bedecked front pages of ruling party papers, but the opposition press showed little interest.

Heng Samrin adviser Koam Kosal told reporters after the meetings the North Korean prime minister had discussed military-led policies that benefited the country "by leaving it more time to think of developing the economy."

Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Prime Minister Hun Sen urged North Korea to settle its problems with Japan over the abduction of some Japanese during war.

"Another important issue is that some Japanese people were held as a hostage," Khieu Kanharith said. "That is what the prime minister thinks is vital and should be settled for dual benefit: good cooperation between Japan and North Korea and less tension in the region."

Yoshimatsu Kaori, third secretary to Japan's ambassador to Cambodia, said Japan supported bilateral relations between Pyongyang and Phnom Penh.

Japan has been Cambodia's largest donor since the 1993 elections and is a neighbor to North Korea.