The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) signed a non-aggression treaty with its Southeast Asian neighbors at the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Singapore on Thursday.

At the signing ceremony, DPRK's Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun together with his ASEAN counterparts inked the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) and handed it over to Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo, the current ASEAN Chair.

Then the ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan received the pact from Yeo.

The DPRK became the 15th state outside of the regional bloc to accede to the TAC, which is a regional code of conduct, encourages peaceful resolution of regional conflicts.

Singapore, as the current ASEAN Chair, has expressed ASEAN's warm welcomes to the DPRK's decision, saying "ASEAN believes that the DPRK's accession to the TAC will strengthen relations between ASEAN and the DPRK, and also help promote peace, security and cooperation in the region."

Aside from 10 ASEAN nations – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, the non-aggression treaty was also adopted by China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia, France, Australia, India, Pakistan, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Mongolia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2008)