North Korea:  High-Level Talks Possible at ASEAN Forum

The United States and North Korea are considering resuming high-level talks on July 31 during a Brunei meeting for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, according to Brunei foreign affairs officials.  U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun are scheduled to attend the forum.

The United States last week withdrew an offer for July 10 meetings partly due to a brief naval battle between North Korea and South Korea (see GSN, July 3).  Powell said today that the clash had been a “deliberate provocation” by North Korea.

Brunei foreign affairs officials said there are indications from both countries that a U.S.-North Korean meeting is still important and that the regional forum would be “a convenient time to hold such talks,” the Borneo Bulletin reported Friday, according to Agence France-Presse.  The Foreign Affairs Ministry, however, said it had not received any official notice that talks would occur during the forum.

North Korea might also use the forum to hold talks with Japanese and South Korean officials, diplomatic sources said.  North Korea said Thursday that it would continue to pursue dialogue with South Korea, despite the naval clash.

The ASEAN Regional Forum, the main security umbrella body for the Asia-Pacific region, includes 22 countries and the European Union, according to Agence France-Presse (Bandar Seri Begawan, Agence France-Presse, July 5).

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Ukraine:  Kiev Completes SS-24 Dismantlement

Ukraine has dismantled the last of its former Soviet SS-24 ICBMs, ITAR-Tass reported last week (see GSN, Dec. 5, 2001).  The solid fuel from the missiles has been taken to a chemical plant near Pavlohrad for disposal, which is expected to be completed by 2007 (ITAR-Tass, July 3 in FBIS-SOV, July 3).

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