KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will attend the 13th Asean Regional Forum (ARF) here later this month, Malaysia's national news services Bernama said on Saturday.

    Bernama said that a spokesman of the DPRK embassy here had confirmed this to it.

    The spokesman said that after attending the ARF meeting, Paek would pay an official visit to Malaysia for two or three days during which he is scheduled to have bilateral talks with his Malaysian counterpart Syed Hamid Albar, Bernama said.

    The 13th ARF will be held in conjunction with the 39th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center on July 24-28.

    Bernama said that Paek is expected to hold talks on the sidelines with his counterparts from some of ARF member countries.

    The ARF comprises the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and ten ASEAN dialogue partners --Australia, Canada, China, the European Union (EU), India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, and the United States.

    The forum also embraces two ASEAN observers -- Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste -- as well as the DPRK, Mongolia and Pakistan.

    The DPRK was admitted to the ARF in 2000, while Bangladesh will be officially admitted as the forum's 26th member at the Kuala Lumpur meeting.

    Formed in July 1994, the ARF is a multilateral security forum in the Asia Pacific region which is aimed at promoting peace and security through dialogue and cooperation. Enditem