A senior South Korean diplomat has asked Laos for support in sending a stern and unified message to North Korea against its military and other provocations at upcoming summits involving major Southeast Asian countries, Seoul officials said Thursday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won made the request during his courtesy call Wednesday on Saleumxay Kommasith, Laos’ deputy prime minister and foreign minister, the foreign ministry said in a release.

Chung was visiting Laos this week to attend a senior officials’ meeting for a series of multilateral conferences with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including the Korea-Mekong business forum, the East Asia Summit, and the ASEAN and its three Northeast Asian dialogue partners — South Korea, China and Japan.

At the meeting, Chung expressed concerns over the North’s continued ballistic missile launches and the sending of trash-carrying balloons across the border into the South, as well as the illegal military cooperation with Russia.

Chun
g asked Laos, the chair of the upcoming ASEAN-related summits set for October, to “play an active role in ensuring that a clear and resolute message will be sent to North Korea,” the ministry said.

Saleumxay, in response, said that Laos supports Korea’s denuclearization efforts and the international commitment to implementing the U.N. Security Council resolutions against Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs.

He added that Laos will make every effort as the chair to help drive these efforts.

Chung also proposed that Korea and Laos work closely to elevate bilateral relations to a “comprehensive strategic partnership” on the occasion of the upcoming ASEAN summits, the ministry said.

Source: Yonhap News Agency