+ A
A -
CLARK FREEPORT ZONE S outheast Asian defence ministers on Monday expressed"grave concern" over North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes and urged the reclusive country to meet its international obligations and resume communications. North Korea is working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking the US mainland and has ignored all calls, even from its lone major ally, China, to rein in its weapons programmes which it conducts in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. Defence ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in a joint statement, underscored the"need to maintain peace and stability in the region" and called"for the exercise of self-restraint and the resumption of dialogue to de-escalate tensions in the Korean peninsula". (REUTERS)
