South Korea urged Southeast Asian nations Wednesday to take a firm stance against North Korea's nuclear weapons program, citing the communist nation's violation of international agreements.
  
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se made the appeal during a meeting with his counterparts from the 10 countries making up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as they met on the sidelines of ASEAN-led conferences under way here this week.
  
"North Korea is violating U.N. Security Council resolutions through its nuclear and missile activity and rejecting denuclearization talks while continuing provocative acts," he said, according to a press release issued by his ministry. "(He) stressed the need for ASEAN to send a strong message to North Korea with one voice and requested ASEAN's active cooperation on this."
  
The ASEAN ministers agreed, citing the need for North Korea to abide by the U.N. resolutions and a 2005 agreement signed within the framework of the six-party talks aimed at ending its nuclear program, the ministry said.
  
South Korea and the 10 ASEAN countries, comprised of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, also adopted a "Plan of Action 2016-2020," which lays out ways to enhance cooperation across all sectors ranging from politics and culture to development.
  
Earlier in the day, Yun held a separate bilateral meeting with his Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi, and discussed cooperation on bilateral and international issues. (Yonhap)