THE Association of Southeast Asian Nations is considering downgrading its ties with North Korea after the United States asked the 10-member bloc to isolate Pyongyang over its continuous missile tests in the region.
This year’s Asean chairman, Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, also warned the North Korean government that it will suspend talks with them if Pyongyang continue to test its missiles.
“You will not get us to talk about your security if you just continue [testing] those missiles,” Cayetano warned.
“We are studying how we can downgrade [ties] because we don’t have much engagement with them,” he said, adding that foreign ministers were expected to discuss the issue Friday night.
Cayetano said the Asean foreign ministers were in constant communication with other regional partners, including United States, South Korea, and Japan.
“We feel as strongly as they feel that this testing of missiles does nothing but destabilize the region and also creates an atmosphere that’s not conducive to resuming talks,” Cayetano added.
Cayetano said President Rodrigo Duterte asked him to “explore a peacemaking role” with North Korea amid the increasing tension.
Cayetano said the Philippines would try to get the North Koreans to talk in any forum or one-on-one sessions, even though this seemed unlikely.
“North Korea does not want to stop so there seems to be no opening for peacemaking or for talks,” he added.
The Asean Regional Forum is expected to tackle the North Korean missile tests Monday, when the Asean ministers and 17 regional partners meet.
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-Ho will attend the Asean Regional Forum on Monday and he is set to arrive on Sunday midnight.
North Korea launched its second intercontinental ballistic missile test last week, which deepened fears over its nuclear strike capabilities.
Instability in the Korean Peninsula has long worried the Philippines due to the large presence of Filipino workers there, numbering at least 57,000.
An escalation of conflict could also affect 200,000 Filipinos in Japan.
The United States has said that it will press the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its dialogue partners, who will gather in Manila for their annual security meeting on Monday, called the Asean Regional Forum, to downgrade ties with North Korea in a bid to isolate it.
Washington also said that it is considering asking the Asean to suspend North Korea’s membership in the forum – a move rejected by a former top official of the Asean.
United States Secretary Rex Tillerson is set to arrive Saturday to participate in the Asean-led meeting.