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N Korea threatens to quit talks North Korea has threatened to walk
out of Asian security talks in Malaysia if its recent missile tests
are denounced, South Korea's Yonhap agency reported. Mr Paek also reiterated that the North would stay away from separate six-nation talks on its nuclear plans. Ten countries are discussing North Korea on the fringes of the forum. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice - who the North this week branded a "political imbecile" - is among the delegates. But North Korea itself has boycotted the talks, refusing to negotiate until the US drops financial sanctions. The ongoing situation in the Middle East is also on the forum's agenda. Ms Rice has planned individual meetings with eight foreign ministers during the conference in Kuala Lumpur, when the violence between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon is also to be discussed. Sanctions The Asean Regional Forum brings together 24 nations, as well as the EU, for one day of talks at the end of the annual Asean (Association of South East Asian Nations) meeting. This year the forum had been expected to focus on North Korea, amid heightened concern in the wake of its missile tests on 5 July. There had been hope that delegates from Pyongyang would attend six-party talks on their country's nuclear ambitions on the sidelines of the Asean meeting, but North Korea has made it clear this will not happen. "The United States has unilaterally imposed financial sanctions against us, making it impossible for us to go to the six-party talks," North Korean spokesman Jong Song-il said on Friday. "(North Korea) can't go into the six-way talks, wearing the hat of sanctions," Mr Paek was quoted as saying by Yonhap. But representatives of the other five nations that usually take part in six-party talks - South Korea, the US, China, Japan and Russia - will meet with delegates from five other nations to discuss the issue. Analysts say the addition of other countries is a tactic to avoid giving the impression that the usual six-party talks are going ahead without Pyongyang. Focus on Lebanon While the regional forum is traditionally concerned with Asian issues, this year the growing crisis in Israel and Lebanon is also expected to be high on the agenda. "We're very much concerned at the grave situation taking place in Lebanon and Gaza," Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said at the opening of the forum. Ms Rice is likely to face some tough questions from other delegates. The US has made it clear that it does not intend to put pressure on Israel to stop the bombardment of southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is brought under control. Earlier in the week, Asean members called for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon, contradicting Washington's line. Adding to the pressure is the presence of Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who will spend Friday meeting senior officials on the sidelines of the main discussions. Even the traditional light spot of the programme - the gala dinner during which ministers put on skits for their colleagues - took on a more sombre mood than usual because of the situation in the Middle East. Condoleezza Rice, an accomplished musician who studied the piano at college, performed a Brahms sonata which she called "a prayer for peace". ---------------------------------------------------
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