The 11th ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting in the Philippines on October 23 (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)Manila (VNA) – Defence Ministers ofthe 10 ASEAN member nations on October 23 expressed their concern over themissiles and nuclear weapon programme of the Democratic People’s Republic ofKorea (DPRK).
In a joint statement of the 11th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting(ADMM) held in the Philippines, the ministers reiterated the significance ofthe maintenance of peace, securityand stability in the region.
They also called on Pyongyang to exerciseself-restraint, observe international obligations and resume dialogue in orderto ease increasing tension in the Korean Peninsula.
The ministers are scheduled to meet with theircounterparts from the US, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India,Australia, Russia and New Zealand on October 24.
Issues involving the DPRK, the East Sea andterrorism will be high on the agenda.
US Secretary of Defence James Mattis affirmed that he will discuss the DPRKissue with Asian partners.
The ADMM is the highest defence consultativeand cooperative mechanism in ASEAN. It aims to promote mutual trust andconfidence through greater understanding of defence and security challenges, aswell as enhancement of transparency and openness among the 10 ASEAN memberstates, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, thePhilippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN defenceministers to engage their dialogue partners from Asia and the Pacific.-VNA
