A North Korean delegation headed by Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun arrived in Vietnam on Wednesday to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Hanoi.

A diplomatic tug-of-war between the two Koreas over the sinking of South Korea’s “Cheonan” warship is expected to resurface during the forum, which is Asia's largest security dialogue.

The North Koreans will reportedly meet with officials from the forum's host nation Vietnam on Thursday to explain their stance on the Cheonan incident.

South Korean delegates met with Hanoi officials on Wednesday and asked that the ARF chairman's declaration state that the sinking of the warship was the result of a North Korean attack. But Vietnam reportedly said that the declaration will not go beyond the U.N. Security Council statement, which denounced the attack but did not implicate North Korea.

Seoul is considering dropping its request that the Cheonan issue be addressed in the statement due to concerns that the declaration could end up including North Korea's claims as well.