Asian summit urges NKorea to give up nuclear arms

Cebu, Jan 15: Asian leaders today urged North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons and respond to humanitarian concerns, including abductions of Japanese in previous decades.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, speaking as the chairwoman of the 16-member summit, also urged North Korea to implement a September 2005 agreement under which it would give up its nuclear programmes in exchange for aid and security guarantees.

''We urge North Korea to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes,'' she said at the conclusion of the one-day summit.

''We also urge North Korea to respond to other security and humanitarian concerns of the international community, including the abductions issue.

Japan had lobbied heavily to get the leaders to address the issue of the dozens of Japanese that North Korea abducted in the 1970s and 1980s.

North Korea admitted in 2002 that its agents had abducted 13 Japanese, sparking outrage in Japan. Five of those were repatriated that same year, but Pyongyang says another eight are dead.

Tokyo wants more information about the eight and four others it says were also kidnapped, and wants survivors sent home.

''On the principle of urging Korea to denuclearise, it was unanimous,'' Arroyo said in response to a question.

''If there were any concerns raised, it was because of the fear that if there is withdrawal of humanitarian assistance for basic needs, then the people of North Korea will suffer,'' she said.

UN Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions on North Korea for last year's atomic and missiles tests only apply to luxury goods and goods which may help North Korea to arm, she said.

''So therefore, there should really be no conflict between the wanting to make sure that the people do no suffer from the lack of basic necessities and urging North Korea to denuclearise.'' Japan, China, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand joined the 10-member Association of South East Nations (ASEAN) at the summit.

Of them, Japan, South Korea and China are among the six parties engaged in talks on curbing Pyongyang's nuclear arms programme. The United States, Russia and North Korea are the other three.

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

Reuters

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