(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday told Pyongyang “we would be a good dialogue partner,” a statement Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said meant the Philippine chief executive “welcomed the opportunity for dialogue in the Asean Regional Forum.”
Duterte made the comment to North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho himself, as he welcomed the reclusive state’s high-ranking official to the 50th anniversary celebration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.
“You are always invited here…We would be a good dialogue partner,” the President–chair of this year’s Asean–told Ri after the North Korean official congratulated the Philippine chief executive for the 50th anniversary of the regional bloc, and thanked him for his invitation.
Prior to this, President Duterte shook hands with Ri.
“Your excellency, welcome. We are very pleased to have you here,” he had told the North Korean official.
In an ambush interview, Cayetano said with the statement, the President “welcomed the opportunity for dialogue in the (ARF),” noting that it was a “common stand for Asean.”
“My understanding is that we welcome them here, welcome to dialogue but it is in the sincere hope that they will only listen,” he said.
North Korea is not part of the ASEAN.
Apart from the Philippines, the regional bloc includes Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei.
President Duterte earlier expressed concerns over North Korea’s nuclear tests, saying if a nuclear war ensued, the Far East would be reduced to “arid land.”