hankyoreh

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon headed Thursday to Africa via Dubai after attending a regional conference here.

Ban's five-day trip to Tanzania, Rwanda and South Africa is mainly aimed at discussing ways of aiding the countries as a follow-up measure to Seoul's so-called Africa Initiative, his aides said.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun announced during his trip to Nigeria in March that his country will triple its Official Development Assistance budget for Africa to approximately US$100 million by 2008.

It was apparently part of South Korea's efforts to expand its diplomatic spectrum to Africa.

Ban is also likely to drum up support from the three African nations for his bid to succeed United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is to step down at the end of this year.

The Africa trip follows the minister's attendance of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) in the Qatari capital that brought together 28 top diplomats from Asia and the Middle East.

On the sidelines of the ACD session, the fifth of its kind, Ban had talks with his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso. They agreed to resume the negotiations to clearly mark the two neighboring countries' exclusive economic zones (EEZs) from June 12-13.

Seoul and Tokyo had four rounds of related talks from 1996-2000, but made little progress because of Tokyo's claim over the South Korean islets of Dokdo.

The two sides' relations remain volatile amid different interpretations of their shared history, despite growing economic and cultural exchanges.

South Koreans believe Japan is unrepentant about its notorious wartime past. Japan colonized the Korean Peninsula from 1910-45.

Ban and Aso concurred on the need for bolstering non-political exchanges separate from the diplomatic standoff, South Korean delegates said after the talks.

Ban also met with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing to exchange views on the North Korean nuclear crisis, inter-Korean relations, and the North Korean defector issue.

Li was quoted as telling Ban that China, which shares a relatively porous border with North Korea,is suffering from the defector issue.

"But Li reaffirmed China's position to deal sternly with North Korean defectors who he said are fleeing their homeland for economic reasons," a South Korean official said.

Regarding the six-way talks on Pyongyang's nuclear program, the Chinese top diplomat also urged North Korea and the United States to show more flexibility.

The ACD meeting finished its two-day run on Wednesday with the adoption of the Doha Declaration, which supports an Asian for secretary-general of the United Nations.

"That we always benefit from a useful exchange of views on regional and global issues of common interest, noting both opportunities for, and challenges facing, Asia and that, in the regard, we reiterate our belief in Asia's growing significance in world affairs, which can positively reinforce multilateralism with the U.N. at the core and, therefore, endorse the next U.N.

Secretary-General coming from Asia," read the declaration.

Foreign Minister Ban and several other Asian candidates are campaigning to succeed the current U.N. chief Annan.

The ACD member nations also support South Korea's initiative to develop the IT sectors in Asia and the Middle East, the declaration added.

South Korea will host next year's ACD session, but it has yet to fix the date and the venue.

After his trip to Africa, Ban will fly to New York on May 31 to attend the United Nations consultation session on HIV, followed by a visit to Washington, where he will meet with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Doha, May 25 (Yonhap News)