Foreign ministers express hope

Foreign Ministers from around the world expressed their heart-felt approval of the current "improvement" in the Korean peninsula. Such improvement also includes the expansion of diplomatic exchange and talks between Communist North Korea and various member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum (ARF).

The ministers highly commended the historical inter-Korean Summit which was held in Pyongyang between June 13th to the 15th, and they further added their support for the June 15th Joint Declaration, the first-ever signed by both leaders of two Koreas since its division in 1945.

The ministers expressed that the hoped-for reunification of the two Koreas may come about as permanent peace descend upon the peninsula through the continued development of ties and cooperative exchange. In addition to the inter-Korean relation, the ministers further hoped for a greater advancement in the efforts of the various nations including Japan and the U.S. in the talks with the North.

In regard to the discontinued missile test-launch by the North Korea, the ministers hoped for a greater peaceful progress in the peninsula and for the full adoption of the 1994 Geneva nuclear agreement which includes the creation of the Korean Energy Development Organization (KEDO).