Six-party ministers to meet in Singapore

SINGAPORE, July 18 (UPI) -- Foreign ministers of nations involved in North Korea's denuclearization intend to meet in Singapore on the sidelines of an ASEAN forum, it was disclosed Friday.

Quoting a South Korean official, Yonhap news agency reported the foreign ministers of the United States, Russia, China, Japan and the two Koreas will meet next Wednesday when Singapore plays host to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum.

The high-level meeting comes in the wake of the six-party talks among the countries' negotiators in Beijing this month, after a recess of nine months.

The South Korean official said the meeting was proposed by China, which chairs the six-way talks, adding the meeting would further encourage the six-party effort, the report said.

In the latest Beijing round, North Korea agreed to disable its main plutonium-producing facilities by October and allow on-site inspection by U.S. and other foreign experts to verify the North's recent declaration of nuclear weapons program, the report said.

"It would be meaningful itself for the foreign ministers to discuss what (their) chief delegates have talked about," the official told Yonhap.

The Singapore meeting would last for about 90 minutes and no joint statements are to be issued, the report said.