Foreign ministers from major countries in the region, including the United States, China, and Japan, will gather this Thursday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This marks one of the largest diplomatic events for South Korea this year, featuring the ROK-ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, ASEAN+3, the East Asia Summit (EAS), and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in succession.
The most anticipated event is the ARF, which will take place this Friday. The ARF is the largest multilateral security forum in the region, involving 27 countries, including the 10 ASEAN countries, South Korea, the United States, China, Japan, and Russia. It is also the only multilateral security meeting in which North Korea officially participates.
Given the increasing pressure from the U.S. regarding tariffs and security, observers are keenly interested in the stance the U.S. will present at this year’s ARF.
For the first time since the ARF’s establishment in 1994, South Korea’s foreign minister will not attend. The nominee, Cho Hyun, has yet to undergo the National Assembly’s confirmation hearing. Instead, First Vice Minister Park Yoon Joo will represent South Korea, but it seems challenging to engage in in-depth discussions, such as bilateral meetings with major countries.
North Korea is also expected to be absent from the meeting. As of Monday, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reported no indications that high-ranking North Korean officials will be attending.
North Korea severed diplomatic ties with Malaysia following the 2017 assassination of Kim Jong Nam. This incident involved North Korean agents luring Vietnamese and Indonesian women under the pretense of filming a show, only to assassinate Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of Kim Jong Un, with VX gas, causing a significant uproar at the time.
The diplomatic relationship between Malaysia and North Korea ultimately collapsed in 2021 when Malaysia extradited a North Korean businessman accused of violating sanctions to the United States.
Additionally, following its close ties with Russia, North Korea has refused to engage with South Korea, the U.S., and Japan, leading to expectations of its absence from this forum. In recent years, North Korea has sent ambassadors to the ARF instead of its foreign ministers, such as the ambassadors to Laos and Indonesia.