Yomiuri: " N.K. to attend Seoul ASEM conference"

Japan`s Yomiuri Newspaper reported on September 7 that North Korea is expected to attend the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) to be held in Seoul on October 20-21, citing a statement made by the Thai foreign ministry`s economic bureau chief, Kopsak Chootikool.

According to the Yomiuri, bureau chief Kopsak, who visited North Korea until September 5, was told by Pyongyang that North Korea will participate in the summit irrespective of formalities.

The representatives for North Korea have yet to be confirmed, but there is a high possibility that Pyongyang`s participation would also serve as an opportunity for the two Koreas to hold high level talks.

However, a government official revealed that as North Korea is not a member of ASEM, in order for it to join the meeting the approval of all member nations would be needed. Until now, no such agreement has been made, and North Korea has yet to express its intention of participating in the ASEM meeting in Seoul.

He added that as the ASEM is a summit meeting, the top leader of North Korea has to attend the conference, but at the present time this does not seem feasible.