The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Friday that foreign minister Cho Tae-yul will be in Vientiane, Laos next week to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) foreign ministerial meetings.

During his visit, minister Cho will discuss ways to develop cooperation through the Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative(KASI), as this year marks the 35th anniversary of dialogue relations between South Korea and the ASEAN.

Cho will also attend a series of foreign ministerial meetings, such as the Korea-ASEAN meeting, the ASEAN Plus Three meeting, the East Asia Summit(EAS), and the ASEAN Regional Forum(ARF), and discuss ways to strengthen comprehensive partnership in various areas.

The ministry added that Cho could participate in bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers of other participating countries, such as the United States, Japan and China.

As the ARF is the only regional multilateral platform for security dialogue in which North Korea takes part, attention is being paid to whether North Korean foreign minister Choe Son-hui will attend the forum.