North Korean Foreign Minister Departs For ASEAN Forum

PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA - AUG. 3: North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong left Pyongyang on Monday, bound for a regional security forum meeting of ASEAN ministers in Malaysia. The ASEAN Regional Forum is taking place in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. ARF meetings involve ministers from the countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as well as Japan, North Korea and the United States, and are the only multilateral ministerial meetings participated in by North Korea. Japan is reportedly seeking sideline talks at the forum between Ri and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on the subject of Pyongyang's promised report into the abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s. Tokyo is hoping to push North Korea to release the report by September, government sources said.