Asia-Pacific

S Korea's hosting of nuclear summit is warning to DPRK: FM

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-21 11:05

SEOUL - Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Yu Myung-hwan said Wednesday the country's hosting of the Nuclear Security Summit in 2012 is meant to deliver a message of warning to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), local media reported.

"I believe South Korea's hosting of a nuclear security summit is a message of warning for North Korea (DPRK). I believe it was meant to give a last change to the North to give up on its nuclear ambitions before 2012," Seoul's Yonhap News Agency quoted Yu as saying in a speech at a private think tank earlier in the day.

Seoul was chosen as a host to the next round of the summit, initiated by the US President Barack Obama with an aim to eventually rid the world of nuclear arms and seek global cooperation on deterring nuclear terrorism threats.

The DPRK unilaterally pulled out of multilateral talks aimed at ending its nuclear arms programs and has since refused to return to the negotiation table.

Yu said earlier this week that the odds for an immediate resumption of the talks seem unfavorable.