ASEAN discusses North Korea's nuclear weapons program, territorial disputes

MANILA. KAIZNFORM Foreign ministers from the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) began a three-day meeting in Manila on Saturday to discuss, among other things, North Korea's nuclear weapons program and the South China Sea territorial disputes, EFE repors.

The Foreign Ministers of Myanmar, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam began plenary sessions Saturday morning, waiting for their counterparts from the world's big powers to reach the Philippine capital as guests.

The Secretary of the United States Department of State, Rex Tillerson, and the head of Chinese diplomacy, Wang Yi, are scheduled to arrive in the late afternoon, while the Russian Sergei Lavrov will arrive early Sunday at the conclave where a total of 27 countries are being represented.

North Korea's nuclear weapons program is expected to be one of the priority issues to be addressed during the ministerial meeting, at a time of heightened tension in the wake of two intercontinental ballistic missile tests and nuclear war threats by the Kim Jong-un regime.

The US State Department earlier this week sought the support of East Asian countries to further tighten economic sanctions on North Korea and to diplomatically isolate the communist country.

Despite pressure from Washington, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho is set to participate on Monday in the ASEAN Regional Security Forum, one of the few international forums in which Pyongyang has not yet vetoed membership.

Territorial disputes in the South China Sea will also be an important issue to be discussed in the meeting.

The Philippines and three other ASEAN members - Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam - are embroiled in a dispute, alongside Taiwan and China for the sovereignty of several islands in the South China Sea, a strategic maritime space rich in natural resources, claimed by China in almost its entirety.

In recent years, China has built facilities on artificial islands that could be of military use, which has raised concern in neighboring countries and the US, which also has interests in the area.

The foreign minister of China and 10 regional leaders are expected to sign the "Framework Agreement for the South China Sea Code of Conduct" on Sunday as a mechanism to prevent conflicts in this maritime area.