The foreign ministers of ASEAN, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea Wednesday expressed their desire for the realization of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and extended their continued support for the early resumption of the Six-Party Talks.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

In a Chairman's Press Statement for the Seventh ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the ministers expressed their concern over the latest developments in the Korean Peninsula.

The foreign ministers also expressed their hope that the on- going inter-Korean exchanges would continue to provide conditions, which would be conducive to peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula.

They also believed that the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) can contribute to promoting peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and expressed the hope that members of the Six-Party Talks can utilize their presence during the ARF to promote the resumption of the Talks.

The Six-Party Talks, which involve the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, South Korea, China, Russia, Japan and the United States of America, are a series of meetings aimed at resolving the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

The foreign ministers from the present participants in the ARF are gathering here for the 13th ARF due to open Thursday afternoon.

Currently, ARF participants include the 10 ASEAN Member Countries, Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Timor-Leste and Bangladesh.

Source: Xinhua