First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo will attend the annual foreign ministers' meeting led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) next week in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

According to Seoul's foreign ministry on Thursday, Park is scheduled to attend ministerial meetings of the South Korea-ASEAN, the ASEAN-Plus-Three also involving China and Japan, the East Asia Summit(EAS) and the ASEAN Regional Forum(ARF) between July 9 and 11.

At a press briefing, ministry spokesperson Lee Jae-woong said the vice minister intends to highlight the country's democratic recovery following martial law and the new South Korean government's foreign policy emphasis on ASEAN.

The vice minister will attend the forums in the minister's place as the confirmation process for nominee Cho Hyun has yet to be completed.

All eyes are on North Korea's attendance at the ARF, which is the only multilateral consultative body which Pyongyang is a part of.