N. Korea wants seat at APEC summit: report

North Korea has asked Moscow for permission to send a mission to next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Russia, Japan’s top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun reported Wednesday.

Citing an unnamed source, the report said Pyongyang wants to attend the talks possibly with “guest” status and sent an envoy to Russia in mid-July to win permission from the authorities.

The reclusive Stalinist state is not a member of APEC and the report cast doubt on the likelihood of North Korea attending official meetings at the summit, held in the far eastern city of Vladivostok from September 8.

“But it is still possible that they will be allowed to attend events held on the sidelines of the summit talks”, the paper quoted its source as saying.

The 21 members of the economic forum include Russia, Japan, China, South Korea, the United States and Australia.

The report comes as Tokyo and Pyongyang are set to meet Wednesday in their first face-to-face talks in four years.

Analysts have kept a close eye out for clues about the emerging foreign policy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, who took over after his father Kim Jong-Il died in December.