The communist state earlier confirmed its foreign minister Paek Nam-Sun would attend the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Kuala Lumpur amid simmering regional tensions over its missile tests this month.

"I know that the South Koreans will be meeting each counterpart (in the six-nation talks, including) the North Koreans. But the rest we'll leave it to them," Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told reporters.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will also be present at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) security forum despite fears she would be delayed in the Middle East, Albar said.

But he added that the North Koreans were not yet ready to rejoin six-party nuclear talks, which ground to a halt in November over Pyongyang's objections to US financial sanctions.

The talks, launched in 2003, involve the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

"They (the North Koreans) have expressed their unwillingness until... certain things are being done," Syed Hamid said.

"I think they feel that the sanctions, the banks, the embargo on the cash transactions is hurting them a lot. So all these things need to be addressed in order to bring all the parties back to talking."

China, North Korea's closest ally, was in the "best position" to bring Pyongyang back to the talks and would need to play an active role, Syed Hamid added.

A North Korean embassy official told AFP that foreign minister Paek would arrive in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday and "may stay for two to three days", but gave no further details.

North Korea's test launching of seven missiles on July 5 prompted a unanimous condemnation by the UN Security Council as well as opening up several regional faultlines.

South Korea suspended rice and fertilizer aid to North Korea. In response Pyongyang scrapped cross-border family reunions on the divided peninsula, accusing Seoul of siding with its Western allies.

South Korea then fell out with Japan, criticising Tokyo's drive to punish Pyongyang for the missile launches.

There was also friction between Japan and China, as Tokyo urged the Security Council to support a binding resolution that would impose sanctions on the North for launching the missiles, but China strongly opposed it.

China and Japan said Monday, however, that their foreign ministers would hold talks on the sidelines of the ARF, with North Korea to be a key issue on the agenda.

It will be only their second such meeting in over a year.

"North Korea is definitely one of the major subjects they will discuss," a foreign ministry official said in Tokyo.

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