North Korea intends to sign a non-aggression treaty with its Southeast Asian neighbours next week, Singapore's foreign ministry said Monday. North Korea told Singapore, current chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), it will accede to the treaty at a ceremony next week.
The ceremony will take place after the Asean Regional Forum, Asia's main security gathering, on July 24, the Singapore foreign ministry said. "Asean warmly welcomes the DPRK's decision," it said, using the formal initials of the reclusive communist state which tested a nuclear bomb in 2006.
"Asean believes that the DPRK's accession to the TAC will strengthen relations between Asean and the DPRK, and also help promote peace, security and cooperation in the region."
The Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), originally signed by Asean members in 1976, has since expanded to include other nations. North Korea would be the 15th signatory from outside Southeast Asia. North Korea is one of 27 Asean Regional Forum members - including Asean, the United States, European Union and South Korea.
On Saturday, it agreed to completely disable its main nuclear facilities by the end of October and allow thorough site inspections, at the end of the latest round of six-nation disarmament talks.
North and South Korea have remained technically at war since a 1950-1953 conflict ended without a formal peace treaty between them, and their border is considered to be one of the world's most dangerous military flashpoints. Ties worsened when conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak took office in February promising a tougher line on Pyongyang.
On Friday, Lee offered an olive branch, proposing talks on ways to implement summit agreements reached by his predecessors. But Pyongyang rejected the talks proposal. North Korea has had longstanding relations with Southeast Asian states Singapore and Indonesia.