RP lauds deal on nuke disarmament of North Korea

The Philippines joined the international community in congratulating the countries that negotiated a landmark agreement for communist North Korea to shut down its nuclear facilities.

"This is a good start to full disarmament and the full stabilization of the Korean Peninsula, which has been in the priority agenda of ASEAN and East Asia for sometime," President Arroyo said in a statement yesterday.

ASEAN stands for Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which is currently chaired by the Philippines.

ASEAN members, aside from the Philippines, are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

"The Philippines and ASEAN will continue to extend all support to achieve these aims through peaceful and constructive means," Mrs. Arroyo said. "We are for a safer world for Filipinos and a more secure and stable region."

The agreement, signed last Feb. 13 in Beijing, sets a 60-day timetable for Pyongyang to seal its main nuclear reactor and begin accounting for other nuclear programs in return for aid. But no timetable was set for a final declaration by North Korea of all its nuclear programs and their ultimate dismantling.

The Philippines last year offered to host the six-party talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear program. It was called six-party talks because six countries were involved in the negotiations – the two Koreas, China, Russia, Japan, and the United States.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said the Feb. 13 agreement "is an important first step towards a denuclearized Korean Peninsula and augurs well for a more stable and secure Asia."

The countries involved in the talks, he said, "demonstrated the strength and unwavering resolve to engage North Korea in the diplomatic arena for the cause of peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula."

In the agreement, North Korea agreed to shut down and seal its main nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, list all its nuclear programs, and dismantle all other nuclear facilities in exchange for energy, economic, and humanitarian assistance.

"As we look forward to the normalization of relations between key players in the region, the Philippines will support and contribute to all efforts by the international community in ensuring that the agreements reached are substantially and properly complied with by all parties," Romulo said.

North Korea was invited to the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meeting in Manila last week but did not attend the security conference.

North Korea’s nuclear program was one of the regional issues discussed last month in Cebu during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ meeting.

At the meeting, Romulo said that he had issued a statement on Oct. 12 denouncing Pyongyang’s nuclear testing.

Earlier, US foreign policy think tank Pacific Forum said humanitarian assistance for North Korea should continue but that it should be made to face the consequence of its stubbornness on the nuclear issue.

Ralph Cossa, Pacific Forum president, also criticized South Korea for increasing trade with North Korea instead of punishing Pyongyang for conducting nuclear tests last year. – With Paolo Romero and AP