EAS leaders focus discussions on Korean peninsula’s peace hinh anh 1Leaders of ASEAN member states and partners at the 31st ASEAN Summit. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) Tension on the Korean peninsula was high on the agenda at the 12th East Asia Summit (EAS) which took place in Manila, the Philippines, on November 14.

The summit, held in the framework of the 31st ASEAN Summit, was attended by leaders and representatives from ten ASEAN member states and Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, the Republic of Korea (RoK) and the US.

While calling for joint efforts to denuclearise the Korean peninsula, RoK President Moon Jae-in stated that the most important mission is to stabilise the situation and prevent provocative missile and nuclear tests by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) while persuade the country come back to the negotiating table by every possible diplomatic measures.

He also asked EAS member states to support Seoul’s efforts in ensuring long-term peace on the Korean peninsula.

Meanwhile, Kyodo News quoted EAS’s draft joint statement, saying that the countries “strong urged the DPRK to immediately and fully comply with all relevant UN Security Council resolutions and urged all states to do the same”.

The participants at the summit also asked the DPRK to give up its missile and nuclear programmes comprehensively.

The East Asia Summit has been held annually since 2005 as a high-level discussion of leaders of nations in the Asia-Pacific region on a wide range of regional and global issues.

The EAS brings together ten members of ASEAN (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippine, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), Australia, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia, and the US.-VNA
VNA