▲ South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (front) speaks during a South Korea-ASEAN summit at the Balai Sidang Jakarta Convention Center in the Indonesian capital on Sept. 6, 2023. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) Yoon-ASEAN summit

(LEAD) Yoon urges immediate halt to attempts to seek military cooperation with N. Korea

(ATTN: UPDATES with additional remarks by Yoon; CHANGES headline)

By Lee Haye-ah

JAKARTA, Sept. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday urged an immediate halt to any attempts to seek military cooperation with North Korea, amid reports Russia and the North are eyeing arms and defense technology trade.

Yoon made the remark during a summit with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta, after The New York Times reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may travel to Vladivostok in Russia next week to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discuss a possible arms deal.

Russia's defense minister also said earlier that he has proposed holding trilateral military exercises with North Korea and China.

"Attempts at military cooperation with North Korea, which damage peace in the international community, should be stopped immediately," the presidential office quoted Yoon as saying.

North Korea has been suspected of providing weapons to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine.

Yoon also "emphasized the need for a firm and united response from the international community in order to achieve North Korea's complete denuclearization in light of the severity of North Korea's nuclear and missile threats," his office said.

Yoon arrived in Jakarta on Tuesday to attend a series of annual summits involving ASEAN, which comprises Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

During the South Korea-ASEAN summit, he shared his administration's plans to flesh out the Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative, a vision he unveiled during last year's ASEAN-related summits in Cambodia to enhance practical and strategic partnerships with the region.

In the security realm, Yoon said South Korea will increase arms cooperation and defense consultations with ASEAN states while strengthening cooperation in cyber security, transnational crimes and maritime security.

He also outlined plans to enhance the digital capabilities of ASEAN youths, contribute to the sustainable development of four countries along the Mekong River -- Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam -- and help ASEAN respond to climate change and infectious diseases.

Yoon referred to new cooperation mechanisms established during his trilateral summit with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Camp David presidential retreat near Washington last month.

"South Korea, the U.S. and Japan agreed to coordinate our respective Indo-Pacific strategies and develop new areas of cooperation based on our full support for the ASEAN-led regional architecture," he said. "For this, we launched an annual South Korea-U.S.-Japan Indo-Pacific dialogue and newly established a trilateral maritime security cooperation framework to support the maritime security capacities of ASEAN and Pacific Island countries."

Yoon asked for ASEAN's support for South Korea's bid to host the 2030 World Expo in its southeastern port city of Busan, noting its special ties with ASEAN as host of two ASEAN-South Korea commemorative summits in 2014 and 2019.

"The Republic of Korea plans to share our development experience with many maritime countries and many neighboring nations, including ASEAN, through the 2030 Busan World Expo," he said, referring to South Korea by its formal name. "We also plan to provide a platform to explore solutions to challenges faced by humanity."

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