SEOUL, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- South Korea wants North Korea to be invited to next year's meeting of Asia-Pacific finance ministers as a special guest.
In an opening address at the finance ministers' meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, Finance and Economy Minister Han Duck-soo stressed the need for APEC to focus on less-developed regions in Northeast Asia, including northeastern parts of China, Siberia and North Korea, according to ministry officials.
"On condition that there is significant progress at the ongoing six-party (nuclear) talks, I think we could consider North Korea to be our first guest," Han was quoted as saying at the meeting held in South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju.
Negotiators from the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia and China are set to gather in Beijing early next week to find a peaceful resolution to North Korea's nuclear-weapons drive after a five-week recess.
If non-members join the APEC forum as special guests, Han said, it would bring greater significance to the 21-member regional grouping and help accelerate the process of establishing peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.
The two-day meeting of finance ministers comes ahead of APEC's annual summit meeting in November, which will be hosted by South Korea in its port city of Busan.
