The five leading nuclear powers will promise at the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations next month that they will not develop or possess nuclear arms in the ASEAN region.
A formal agreement will be signed by the U.S., China, Russia, the U.K. and France at the ASEAN Regional Forum in Cambodia according to Japanese news agency Kyodo.
The expected pact would include a protocol stating that the nuclear powers will respect a nuclear weapons moratorium agreed by the 10 ASEAN members in 1997.
The planned treaty, if ratified, would make the ASEAN the first nuclear-free region in Asia.

Reporter : yschoi@arirang.co.kr