Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Thursday that South Korea would "continue efforts to resume dialogue with North Korea with patience, for peaceful coexistence and shared prosperity on the Korean Peninsula."
Cho made the remarks at the East Asia Summit foreign ministers' meeting in Manila, where he called on EAS member states to maintain their attention and cooperation in resolving the Korean Peninsula issue through dialogue and diplomacy, according to Yonhap.
The EAS is a premier strategic forum comprising the 10 ASEAN member states along with South Korea, the United States, China, Japan, Russia, India, Australia and New Zealand. The meeting covered major political and security issues in the region, including the Korean Peninsula, the South China Sea, Myanmar and the Middle East.
Participating countries expressed concern over North Korea's continued nuclear and missile development and agreed that the Korean Peninsula issue should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.
On the South China Sea, Cho reaffirmed Seoul's principled position, saying freedom of navigation and overflight must be guaranteed in the waterway as a critical maritime trade route, and that maritime order based on international law — including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea — must be upheld.
He also commended efforts by relevant countries toward concluding a Code of Conduct for the South China Sea, stressing the importance of establishing a code that conforms to international law and does not infringe on the rights of third parties. A significant number of participating countries also underscored the importance of maintaining peace, stability and safety in the South China Sea.
Cho said that amid rising tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, the free and safe navigation of vessels must be guaranteed in all international waters. On Myanmar, he said South Korea supports efforts to resolve the situation based on ASEAN's Five-Point Consensus, and that Seoul is actively participating in efforts to improve the humanitarian situation there.
yckim6452@heraldcorp.com
