Rising tensions between the US and North Korea have pulled in once-peripheral Southeast Asian states and opened an unpredictable new regional dimension in the long-running crisis.
Events on the peninsula are a “growing concern” for the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations and member states might consider sanctions against Kim Jong Un’s regime, said Enrique Manalo, a senior Philippine diplomat.
The US used a meeting in Washington last week to urge senior Asean foreign policy officials to step up pressure on Pyongyang to curb its missile and nuclear programmes. The squeeze is a change for Southeast Asian states that have not traditionally played a big role in dealing with North Korea — and have thus avoided antagonising a country potentially within firing range.