NKorea may consider leaving ASEAN forum-Japan

KUALA LUMPUR, July 28: North Korea's foreign minister told a global security forum today that it might reconsider its membership of the annual gathering, a Japanese official said after the closed-door session.

The official told reporters that North Korea's Paek Nam-sun had made the comment in the ASEAN Regional Forum, which groups foreign ministers from 10 Southeast Asian nations and other world powers, including US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Forum participants have called on North Korea to reconvene multi-lateral talks on the sidelines of the Kuala Lumpur meeting this week to help resolve fears over the North's nuclear arms ambitions.

REUTERS