Singapore calls on North Korea to join Asean Regional Forum and maintain dialogue channels

KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 — Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has encouraged North Korea to engage constructively with the region and maintain open channels for dialogue, including by attending the Asean Regional Forum (ARF), saying such communication is increasingly important amid global uncertainty, according to The Straits Times.

Balakrishnan made the remarks during a visit to North Korea on May 26 at the invitation of his counterpart Choe Son Hui, as part of a wider North-east Asia trip that also includes China and South Korea.

“We had a candid and wide-ranging exchange of views on regional security and international developments. I expressed my hope that our countries would continue to do our part to support peace and stability amid the challenging developments in the region,” he said in a Facebook post yesterday referring to his talks with Choe.

Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said Balakrishnan also invited Choe to attend the ARF, a diplomatic and security dialogue that North Korea has been part of since 2000.

“Our ties are friendly, built on mutual respect and continued engagement over the decades,” he wrote on Facebook.

According to the report, both ministers also reaffirmed the “longstanding cordial and friendly relations” between Singapore and North Korea, MFA said. Balakrishnan was also hosted to a welcome banquet during the visit.

The trip comes as Singapore and North Korea marked 50 years of diplomatic relations in 2025, against a more volatile backdrop on the Korean peninsula, with Pyongyang reporting missile tests on May 27 that raised fresh security concerns.

It was Balakrishnan’s second visit to North Korea since 2018, when he travelled to Pyongyang ahead of the US-North Korea summit in Singapore, The Straits Times reported. 

He also met Jo Yong Won, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly, where both sides recalled North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s visit to Singapore for the 2018 summit with US President Donald Trump.

Balakrishnan’s trip followed meetings in Beijing earlier in the week, where he met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, with both calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East and an end to the Strait of Hormuz blockade.