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BANGKOK: Southeast Asian leaders will discuss Myanmar’s trial of
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on the sidelines of a summit in
South Korea next week, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on
Sunday.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)
earlier this month issued a rare rebuke against military-ruled
Myanmar, its most troublesome member, for the regime’s treatment
of the Nobel laureate.
Aung San Suu Kyi, 63, faces up to five years in
jail on charges of breaching the terms of her house arrest after an
incident in which an American swam to her lakeside house.
“Asean leaders will meet and discuss an issue
that has received international attention—about a neighboring
country—for further cooperation,” the Thai premier said in his
weekly television program.
The Asean-Korea Commemorative Summit takes place
on June 1-2 in the southern resort island of Jeju, overshadowed by
the growing security threat from North Korea and the issue of Suu
Kyi.
Thailand, which holds the rotating chairmanship
of Asean, issued a statement on May 18 expressing “grave
concern” about Suu Kyi and saying that the “honor and the
credibility” of Myanmar’s government were at stake.
Myanmar’s ruling junta hit back a week later,
saying that it “strongly rejected” the statement and accused
Thailand of meddling in its internal affairs.
One of its biggest diplomatic gatherings, Seoul
planned the Jeju summit to promote its “New Asia Initiative” to
strengthen its ties with the continent.
But North Korea’s relations with its neighbor
and the world have worsened dramatically in recent months.
Last week, it tested its second nuclear bomb,
renounced the truce in force on the Korean peninsula and threatened
attacks on the South.
South Korea has heightened vigilance for the
commemorative summit with leaders of the 10-nation Asean, which
groups Thailand, Myanmar, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.
“During the summit meetings, our military will
escalate its alert and mobilize additional intelligence assets,”
Lt. Gen. Jang Kwang-Il of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said last week.
One commander said any North Korean border
provocation is likely to be timed for the summit to cause maximum
embarrassment.
Seoul says the North’s security threat will be
a topic at the summit, called to mark the 20th anniversary of
relations between South Korea and Asean.
Leaders will also debate the global financial
crisis, climate change and regional cooperation in trade, economic
matters, security and culture.
“In recent years, especially as we entered the
21st century, Asia has emerged as a great power economically and in
many other aspects,” South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak said
recently. “That is why cooperation within the Asian region is
important and that is why it is especially important to improve ties
between Korea and Asean.”
South Korea sees Asean’s almost 600 million
people as a market for its export-dominated economy that can offset
the recession in developed countries.
The resource-poor nation is also eyeing the
regional bloc’s abundant raw materials.
Asean is already South Korea’s third-largest
trading partner, with two-way trade worth around $90 billion in
2008, and its second-largest destination for overseas investment.
Seoul’s investment in the region was worth
$5.86 billion last year.
The figures will rise further when the two sides
on Tuesday sign an investment pact, completing negotiations on a
free trade agreement that began in 2005.
Lee is due to raise issues of democracy during a
meeting with his counterpart from military-ruled Myanmar. Also, he
will use the summit to promote his low-carbon, green-growth policy.
Presidential officials said Lee also would urge Southeast Asian
leaders to help build a strong bond market in the region and fight
protectionism during the global downturn.
-- AFP
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