North Korea to disclose stance on intl. pressure during ASEAN meetings: official

By Catherine Chung

Published : Aug. 6, 2017 - 09:17

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North Korea will disclose its stance on international pressure over its missile provocations at multiple meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a North Korean official said Saturday.

The senior official who will accompany North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho during his visit to Manila made the remarks in a brief encounter with Yonhap News Agency at a hotel. Lee is to arrive here early on Sunday morning.

"We will make our stance clear when things are determined," he told Yonhap. "Please wait until that time."

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho (C) (Yonhap)

Asked whether the North will have bilateral talks with China, he also repeated that he will let the media know when things are fixed.

Ri is to join the ASEAN Regional Forum scheduled for Monday, which is part of a string of meetings hosted by the ASEAN, which comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.

The ARF is a rare multilateral meeting to which North Korea sends its diplomat annually.

The ARF and other ASEAN meetings come amid mounting pressure on the North following its continued missile provocations. Pyongyang conducted two intercontinental ballistic missile tests in July.

Media reports showed that the US and China are working on fresh sanctions on the North at the UN Security Council, including trade restrictions that could slash its exports by more than 30 percent. (Yonhap)

North Korea to disclose stance on intl. pressure during ASEAN meetings: official

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