‘PH has unique role in resolving NoKor threat’

The Philippines has a unique role to play in resolving the North Korean missile threat, according to a high-ranking official of the North Korean Nuclear Affairs Bureau of the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In a forum on peace and security in the Korean Peninsula held in Makati City yesterday, the South Korean official who asked not to be named in this report pointed out that the Philippines is one of the leading Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries that can play a role in encouraging China and the United States to cooperate with each other and curb North Korea’s nuclear arms threat.

“The Philippines has the diplomatic stature to do that,” the South Korean official said.

He said the North Korean missile threat is not only a concern for South Korea but for the entire world as well.

“The Philippines is very much involved if there’s unstable situation in the Korean peninsula,” he said.

The official further noted the Philippines’ robust relationship with the US, Russia, China Japan as well as a major trading partner of South Korea.

“The situation in the Korean peninsula is closely related to the future of Philippine trade and economy as well as political and security,” he said.

On the part of South Korea, the North Korean Nuclear Affairs Bureau official said his country expects China to do more in curbing the threatening actions of North Korea.

“North Korea’s economy is closely related to China hence the latter has the leverage to bring North Korea to the table,” he said. “That is our expectation.”

He said South Korea is putting the effort to convince China that North Korea has become a “destabilizing factor in the peninsula and it has become a security liability.”

“We are talking to China to do more against North Korea,” the South Korean official said.