Hill to discuss N. Korea, Myanmar

Abdul Khalik

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta - United States Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill will meet with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and several ministers Friday to discuss the growing tension in the Korean peninsula and Myanmar.

Hill, also the chief U.S. negotiator for North Korean nuclear disarmament, was in Bali on Thursday to attend an international conference before flying to Jakarta on Friday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Kristiarto Suryo Legowo said the U.S. senior diplomat was scheduled for separate meetings with Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda and Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono before visiting the President at the Presidential Palace later in the afternoon.

"The discussion will be about issues that concern both countries. For instance, we will listen to his briefing about the latest developments in the Korean peninsula," Kristiarto told The Jakarta Post.

Yonhap news agency reported Wednesday that Hill was slated to meet North Korea's chief negotiator Kim Kye-wan in Bali on Thursday or in Jakarta on Friday.

Kristiarto said he was unaware if such a meeting would take place.

Some officials have suggested the President and his ministers would use the meeting with Hill, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, as an opportunity to raise Indonesia's ideas on other high-profile international issues, such as Myanmar and Tibet.

Indonesia has expressed its interest in playing a bigger role in resolving South Korea-North Korea conflicts.

Tension in the peninsula has heightened since new South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in February with pledges to get tough on the North and hold it accountable to its commitments to roll back its nuclear program.

Official from both countries have exchanged threatening statements, with North Korea warning of nuclear catastrophe and making a series of angry gestures, including conducting missile tests recently.

Indonesia is one of the few countries that have a good relationship with North Korea. The relationship stretches back to the Sukarno era. Subsequent presidents have maintained the good relationship, with President Megawati Soekarnoputri visiting Pyongyang in 2003 to meet Kim Jong-il.

On Myanmar, Yudhoyono has repeatedly shown his support for the military junta's steps toward democracy, although Western countries, including the U.S., have dismissed the process and establishment of the new constitution as a way for the military to legitimize the grip on power it has held since its 1962 coup.

International relations expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Bantarto Bandoro, urged Yudhoyono to push the U.S. to be more proactive in solving the North Korea nuclear crisis.

"But Indonesia can tell Hill the U.S. should not push Myanmar too hard as it will be counterproductive for the country's democratic process," he said.