Asian lawmakers urge N Korea to give up nuke program

The Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace (AAPP) urged North Korea yesterday to totally abandon its nuclear program to ensure peace and stability in the peninsula and the Asia-Pacific region.

In one of the resolutions adopted by the AAPP, the Asian lawmaking bodies said they share a "deep concern" over a series of actions made by North Korea, including "its breach of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) Safeguards Agreement and its withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT)."

"(The AAPP) urge North Korea to comply with all its international nuclear non-proliferation commitments, including the visible, verifiable and irrevocable abandonment of (its) nuclear program, the resumption of cooperation with IAEA, and the withdrawal of its decision to walk out of the NPT," the 38-nation body said.

The AAPP adopted the resolution, initiated by the Philippine and South Korean delegations, at the second day of its fourth general assembly held in Manila following workshops in peace and security presided by delegates from the two countries’ parliaments.

The resolution expressed support for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and called for a peaceful solution of the North Korean nuclear crisis.

The AAPP also welcomed six-way talks involving North and South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, and encouraged these governments to pursue the talks for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

The Chinese delegation strongly opposed the resolution, saying the document should include mention of the animosity between the US and North Korea.

Delegates from other countries, including Japan and Bangladesh, later prevailed upon the Chinese lawmakers to support the resolution.

One of the other resolutions adopted by the AAPP was the strengthening of the Chongqing Declaration Against Terrorism, made in April 2002.

The AAPP said it is reaffirming their members’ "commitment to counter, prevent and suppress all forms of terrorist acts in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, International Law and all the relevant UN resolutions on international terrorism."

"Acts of terrorism in all forms and manifestations (are) a serious threat to international peace and security, ultimately requiring concerted action and international cooperation to effectively eradicate the same," the document said.

Another resolution adopted by the AAPP was for its 38-member countries to intensify the fight against drug trafficking through stronger international cooperation and drawing up of tougher anti-drug laws.

"Illicit drug manufacturing, drug trafficking and drug abuse … can only be resolved through international cooperative action and support from governments of different Asian nations and their respective parliaments," the resolution read.

The AAPP, in yet another resolution, reaffirmed the commitment of its members to the universal declaration of human rights.

On Monday, the AAPP moved to remake itself into a multi-nation parliamentary assembly as a precursor to the formation of an Asian body patterned after the European Union. Speaker Jose de Venecia, recently elected president of the AAPP, said "such an assembly of Asia’s parliamentarians — from Tokyo to Istanbul — can have the same long-term catalytic effect as the formation of the 45-nation Parliamentary of the Council of Europe in 1949 had on the European Union."

He said the AAPP should begin to look into the feasibility of eventually remaking itself into an Asian Parliamentary Assembly, based on existing models in the continents of Europe, Latin America and Africa.

The proposed "supra-national legislature" could be one of the "many practical achievements we can undertake together that will build up our own sense of common purpose," De Venecia said.