Report: Asian foreign ministers to reiterate CVID at security forum

SEOUL, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Foreign ministers in the Asia-Pacific region will reiterate complete disarmament of North Korea's nuclear weapons at a multilateral security forum this week.

Member countries of the ASEAN Regional Forum, or ARF, will stress their support for complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and reaffirm their commitment to the U.N. sanctions on North Korea, Mainichi Shimbun reported Wednesday.

The ARF has 27 member countries, including South and North Korea, China, Japan, Russia and ASEAN member countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. It is one of the largest security talks in the region.

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho is expected to attend the meeting on Saturday, Kyodo News reported.

His visit comes amid anticipation that the regional security forum could serve as a venue for talks that could pave a way for further development on denuclearization, following the U.S.-North Korea summit in June.

The ARF statement is also expected to include the Japanese's government's decades-long request for the return of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea, according to the draft, obtained by Mainichi Shimbun.

Attention has been on the possible talks between North Korean Foreign Minister Ri and his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono at the ARF meeting.