ASEAN DEFENSE CHIEFS URGE NOKOR TO REIN IN NUKE PLANS

CLARK FREEPORT— Southeast Asian defense ministers on Monday expressed “grave concern” over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and urged the reclusive country to meet its international obligations and resume communications.

North Korea is working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking the US mainland and has ignored all calls, even from its lone major ally, China, to rein in its weapons programs that it conducts in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.

Defense ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), in a joint statement, underscored the “need to maintain peace and stability in the region” and called “for the exercise of selfrestraint and the resumption of dialogue to deescalate tensions in the Korean Peninsula.”

They are due to meet with their counterparts from the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, Russia and New Zealand on Tuesday when North Korea, the disputed South China Sea and terrorism are expected to top the agenda.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said he will talk with Asian allies about North Korea and the crisis caused by its “reckless” provocations.

Mattis’ trip to Asia, which will also include stops in Thailand and South Korea, comes just weeks before Donald Trump’s first visit to Asia as US president.

In the same statement, the Asean ministers reiterated the importance of “safety and freedom of navigation in and overflight above the South China Sea” and called for “self restraint in the conduct of activities.”