Lately, U.S. President Donald Trump has been seeking the cooperation of not just Beijing but also Southeast Asian allies in standing up to North Korean belligerence in building a nuclear arsenal. It was ASEAN, after all, that coaxed North Korea out of its shell in 2000 for consultation over tensions then gripping the peninsula. It offered North Korea the only chance outside the U.N. to address its antagonists directly. Thailand has concerns about North Korean asylum seekers regularly landing here before being resettled elsewhere. The resulting wariness of Pyongyang among some ASEAN members tempers any optimism that the bloc's success in 2000 might be repeated.

Source: The China Post May 13, 2017 15:56 UTC