The harsh words and wavering debate about North Korea that emerged from the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) are disconcerting. The foreign ministers of the US and Japan urged members of the Forum it is vital to keep tight sanctions on Pyongyang until there is clear progress towards what now is generally called denuclearisation. One voice, North Korea's Ri Yong-ho, demanded relief from sanctions. But the forum quite properly decided his argument that Pyongyang deserves relief for showing good faith was unconvincing and invalid.
While the ARF finally came up with a stance on North Korea, it was needlessly wishy-washy. It took four days of intense haggling, and all the ministers had left the ARF meeting site in Singapore before a final statement was issued. It called on ARF member North Korea to "fulfil its stated commitment to complete denuclearisation and its pledge to refrain from further nuclear and missile tests". There was no mention of sanctions at all, even though every member of ARF, except for North Korea of course, has pledged strongly to enforce all UN sanctions against the hermit kingdom.
The problem for many countries, in great irony, appears to be the spectacular June 12 meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un. Everything from that special summit was positive. In particular, Mr Kim pledged that his country was committed to denuclearisation. That is a big word with a simple meaning: No nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula. But the devil's in the details, and the Trump-Kim summit showed there can be progress. It's just that up to now progress has been almost immeasurably small.
