North Korea, Burma come under fire at Asean meet

The ministers expressed grave concern over Pyongyang's recent underground nuclear test and missile launches in violation of UN resolutions.

They urged North Korea to comply with UN resolutions and return to six-party talks on its nuclear programme.

North Korea is not an Asean Plus Three member but is a member of the Asean Regional Forum, which will meet today.

Pyongyang tried to escape criticism by sending only a low-ranking representative to the Asean meeting rather than Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun.

North Korea's nuclear ambitions were a key issue of the discussions. Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi also had a bilateral meeting to discuss the rising tension on the Korean Peninsula.

"Japan and China cannot accept North Korea possessing nuclear weapons or developing ballistic-missile technology. This poses a grave threat to regional security," said Japanese press secretary Kazuo Kodama.

However, yesterday's Asean Plus Three Ministerial Meeting, in which Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win also attended, took a softer stance towards the military junta, saying they "encourage" the military leaders to hold free, fair and inclusive elections next year.

Unlike US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Asean Plus Three ministers did not mention military ties between Burma and North Korea.

Clinton, who today will sit with diplomats from Burma and North Korea at the Asean Regional Meeting in Phuket, earlier said Pyongyang could transfer nuclear technology to Burma.

The Asean Plus Three ministers welcomed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's recent visit to Burma and urged the junta to cooperate with the UN role in the process of national reconciliation.

Japan's Nakasone met his Burmese counterpart, Nyan Win, to push for the democratisation of the junta-ruled country.

Nakasone expressed hope the Burmese government would respond positively to the issue raised by the UN chief, release all political prisoners and resume political dialogue with the opposition.The Asean Plus Three ministers also discussed the non-security threat of the type-A (H1N1) influenza pandemic, calling for timely implementation of measures by health ministers of member countries adopted at a meeting in Bangkok in May.

Japan said it contributed 500,000 courses of antiviral drugs and 350,000 sets of personal-protection equipment to the Asean stockpile in Singapore last December.

The drugs and equipment were initially stockpiled for the bird-flu outbreak but are also suitable for the type-A (H1N1) virus, Kodama said.