South Korea to Seek ASEM Support for Peace on Korean PeninsulaThe third Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), which opens Friday in Seoul, is a golden opportunity for South Korea to seek broad international support for consolidating peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.South Korea is prepared to seize the rare opportunity when leaders from 10 Asian countries and 15 European Union (EU) member states, and the president of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, attend the two-day meeting. The Seoul Declaration on Peace on the Korean Peninsula is expected to be adopted as one of the three major documents at the conclusion of the biennial event, at which the Asian and European leaders will charter the future course for cooperation between the two continents in the first decade of the 21st century. The situation on the Korean peninsula has been greatly improved since the historic inter-Korean summit in June between the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Jung Il, and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung. President Kim, in an interview with the South Korean news agency Yonhap Tuesday, said that the adoption of the declaration will declare to the world the ASEM support for Seoul's policy of inter-Korean reconciliation, cooperation and peace. "The Declaration, coupled with the statement issued by the United Nations General Assembly president last September, will eventually contribute to enhancing peace and stability and scrapping the Cold War structure on the Korean Peninsula," Kim said. The proposed declaration, which is aimed at encouraging the improvement of relations between ASEM countries and the DPRK, will bring about changes in the overall situation on the Korean peninsula, said the president. The ASEM, which held its inaugural meeting in Bangkok, Thailand in 1996 and a subsequent second one in London, Britain in 1998, gathers heads of state or government from 10 Asian countries, 15 European Union states, and the EU Commission president. The 10 Asian countries are Brunei, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The 15 EU members are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Britain. President Kim, while commenting on the proposed visit by US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and President Bill Clinton to the DPRK, said that the improvement in DPRK-US ties will "produce progress" in efforts to solve issues between them, normalize diplomatic relations and thus contribute "greatly" to improvement in inter-Korean relations. |
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