The appeal came as Pyongyang skipped the ASEAN Regional Forum for a second consecutive year….reports Asia Lite News Desk
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun on Thursday urged North Korea to respond to Seoul’s offers for dialogue and cooperation, saying lasting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula requires engagement from both sides.
Speaking at the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Manila, Cho reaffirmed South Korea’s commitment to building a Korean Peninsula where the two Koreas can coexist peacefully and pursue shared prosperity. He stressed that such efforts could not succeed without North Korea’s participation.
“Such efforts cannot bear fruit through the will of one side alone. I hope North Korea would respond to our sincere efforts for dialogue and cooperation,” Cho said, according to South Korea’s foreign ministry.
The 27-member ARF is the only regional multilateral security forum attended by both South and North Korea, alongside the 11 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states and major regional powers, including the United States, China, Japan and Russia. However, North Korea did not attend this year’s meeting, marking its second consecutive absence from the forum, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Cho also expressed hope that the ARF would continue to play a constructive role in promoting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.
According to South Korea’s foreign ministry, many participants voiced concern over North Korea’s continued development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes. They also reaffirmed the need for the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and called for full compliance with relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Relations between the two Koreas have remained at a standstill since North Korea declared in late 2023 that the two sides were “two hostile states”. Pyongyang has also ignored repeated calls from Washington to resume dialogue while strengthening ties with Russia and China.
At the meeting, Cho also welcomed the adoption of the Manila Plan of Action (2026-2036), a roadmap outlining the forum’s priorities and cooperation agenda for the coming decade.
He reaffirmed Seoul’s commitment to expanding its role within the ARF and said South Korea would co-chair several inter-sessional meetings, including those focused on counter-terrorism and transnational crime.
The ASEAN Regional Forum remains one of the few multilateral platforms where security issues involving the Korean Peninsula are discussed collectively, despite the absence of North Korean representatives this year.
