Asean hits North Korea rocket launch

Asean chief Surin Pitsuwan. AFP FILE PHOTO

PHNOM PENH—Southeast Asian nations voiced “real concern” on Monday about North Korea’s planned rocket launch, which the United States and its allies describe as a ballistic missile test.

“There is a real concern on the development in the Korean peninsula,” Asean chief Surin Pitsuwan said after foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations met in the Cambodian capital.

“Instability up there could lead to diminishing confidence in the region as a whole,” Pitsuwan said.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario called the launch “unacceptable” and in violation of United Nations resolutions, and said he expected Asean members to support his country’s position.

Asean leaders are due to hold a two-day summit in Phnom Penh starting Tuesday, and while North Korea is not a member of the bloc, the rocket launch is expected to feature in their discussions.

Asked whether Asean agreed with Manila that the launch was unacceptable, Surin said: “Asean has expressed very, very serious concern but in what language it will come out, I don’t know. We have to wait and see.”

Del Rosario told Agence France-Presse after the meeting that he was “very happy” with how the discussion on the rocket launch had gone.

“I think the countries that spoke on the topic of the DPRK (North Korea) launch were all of the opinion that we should be discouraging DPRK from undertaking that launch,” he said.

Manila announced on Sunday it had lodged diplomatic protests with Pyongyang representatives at the United Nations, in China, and in Asean nations.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told reporters he had also “communicated our concern about the developments on the Korean peninsula.”

Pyongyang announced last month it would fire a rocket between April 12 and 16 to place a satellite in orbit, sparking alarm in the region.

A US diplomat has said debris from the launch are expected to land in the Philippine archipelago.

The United States and other nations say the planned launch is a disguised ballistic missile test, and would breach a UN ban on North Korean missile launches.

Code of conduct

The ministers wrangled on Monday over a proposed code of conduct (COC) aimed at easing dangerous maritime disputes with China in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

“I think the difference of opinion lies in the fact that we are advocating that a draft of the COC be prepared before we sit down with China,” Del Rosario told reporters. “Others are taking the view that China should be invited to come in for the initial discussion.”

Natalegawa said Asean should hear China’s views before presenting Beijing with a draft code.

He said it was important to “listen and hear what China’s views are so that we can really develop a position that is cohesive and coherent.”

During Indonesia’s chairmanship of the regional bloc least year, Asean and China agreed on a set of guidelines for the proposed code, ending a nine-year impasse.

Settlement mechanism

A senior Southeast Asian diplomat told the French news agency that countries were also divided on whether to include a dispute settlement mechanism in the code.

Asean members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, along with China and Taiwan, have overlapping claims in the West Philippine Sea, a conduit for more than one-third of the world’s seaborne trade and half its traffic in oil and gas.

The Philippines and Vietnam accuse China of aggressively asserting its claims in recent years, leading to minor clashes that diplomats and military commanders fear could quickly escalate into major conflicts.

“The Philippines hopes that the code of conduct will be a real  ‘move forward’ not merely in terms of form, but more importantly in substance,” Del Rosario said.

Still, he said he hoped Asean and China would sign the code this year during Cambodia’s chairmanship of the regional bloc.

Main agenda

The summit’s main agenda on Tuesday was to ensure that Southeast Asia is on track to meet an ambitious goal of transforming in three years into a community similar to the European Union: a single market and production base, where people and goods can travel seamlessly. A shared currency is not being considered.

The move has been seen as a crucial leverage amid the rise of Asian powerhouses like China and India.

Surin said Asean “is on track” of meeting the 2015 deadline, although there are some issues, including a delay by some members to work on needed legislation. With reports from AP