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Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo to depart for Malaysia to attend Asean meetings

Published: 09 Jul. 2025, 10:29

People pose with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) logo against the backdrop of Kuala Lumpur's skyline, ahead of the Asean Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on July 8. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo was set to depart for Malaysia on Wednesday to attend a series of multilateral meetings involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and other countries, including the United States and China.

Park's three-day visit to Kuala Lumpur is expected to underscore South Korea's emphasis on ASEAN diplomacy and reaffirm its commitment to advancing ties with countries in the region under the new government of President Lee Jae Myung.

He will attend the upcoming meetings in place of the foreign minister, as the new top diplomat has yet to be formally appointed pending a parliamentary hearing.

Park will attend the South Korea-Asean foreign ministers meeting on Thursday, where the two parties are expected to discuss efforts to strengthen their comprehensive strategic partnership, with a focus on digital and green transition, officials said.

Park will then take part in the Asean Plus Three (APT) meeting, joined by Japan and China, to discuss cooperation on the economy and other areas.

On the following day, Park is scheduled to join the East Asia Summit, which will bring together the APT members, as well as the United States, Russia, Australia, India and New Zealand.

Park will also attend the Asean Regional Forum (ARF), where he is expected to outline Seoul's peace efforts aimed at making substantive progress on North Korea's nuclear issue and reinforce calls for international support.

The ARF is the only multilateral security forum that North Korea has attended. However, diplomatic sources say Pyongyang is unlikely to participate this year, given its severed ties with Malaysia following the 2017 assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the older half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Since nuclear talks with the United States stalled in 2019, North Korea has been represented at the ARF by its ambassador stationed in the Asean region.

Park is expected to hold several bilateral talks with Asean member states on the sidelines of the meetings. It remains unclear whether he will hold one-on-one meetings with the top diplomats of the United States, Japan, China and Russia.

Yonhap