South Korea is likely to wage another diplomatic battle with Japan at an upcoming Asian security forum to draw regional attention to the unfairness of Tokyo’s trade restrictions on the country. 

According to South Korea's foreign ministry on Thursday, Minister Kang Kyung-wha will attend a foreign ministers’ meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Bangkok next week and hold a series of meetings with her counterparts from several countries on the sidelines.  

Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Yoon Soon-gu said the ministry will emphasize the importance of a free and fair trade environment during the ministerial meetings. He said Seoul also aims to seize various opportunities in Thailand to urge Tokyo to swiftly retract the measures. 

The ministry will push for efforts to reflect its voice on free trade in the chairman’s statements to be adopted by the foreign ministerial meetings.  

The ARF does not usually deal with trade issues, but Seoul is known to be stressing that Japan’s export curbs could affect other countries, including those in the region. 

South Korea and Japan traded verbal salvos over the matter during a World Trade Organization General Council meeting early this week.