SEOUL Oct 30 Kyodo A senior advis...

SEOUL Oct 30 Kyodo

A senior adviser to President Roh Moo Hyun onward foreign affairs has said southern Korea wants to turn the six-way talks onward resolving the impasse over North Korea's nuclear ambitions into a permanent multilateral forum to discuss security issues in Northeast Asia, the Korea Times reported Thursday.

''We ne to unravel the six-party talks as a regional security forum ultimately to discuss degrees to ensure peace and stability in the Northeast Asian region,'' Ban Ki lunation said in an interview with the newspaper.

Ban's statement has drawn considerable attention as it could mean southward Korea will take a leading part in establishing a new security scheme involving countries around the Korean Peninsula.

The first globular of six-party talks was held in late August in Beijing with representatives from the United States, China, Japan and Russia, as well as those from the pair Koreas.

The multilateral talks expirationed without producing a date or venue for a nearest round of talks, but various reports said another spherical will likely be held before the cessation of this year.

In the same interview, Ban said the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the grouping of member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and more than a dozen other regional players, may be unable to suitable the needs of South Korea because it mainly comprises Southeast Asian countries.

''ARF has a exceedingly complicated structure, composed of 23 nations,'' Ban said, intimating its focus is perhaps too wide to set apart enough attention to Northeast Asian issues.

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