South Korea's top diplomat will attend a regional security forum in China next week to increase international pressure on North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said Friday.

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will attend a ministerial meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia to be held in Beijing from Wednesday through Thursday, the ministry said in a press release.

Yun will be the first South Korean foreign minister to join the conference that was launched in 1992 under the initiative of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. This year, the regional forum will bring together foreign ministers and other cabinet level officials from the 26 member states, including China, Russia, India, Turkey and Iran.

On Thursday, Yun plans to deliver a keynote speech to highlight the serious threat posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and seek the active cooperation of CICA member states in blocking the North's nuclear advances and deterring future provocations through the faithful implementation of U.N. and bilateral sanctions against Pyongyang.

Yun also plans to promote Seoul's signature Eurasia Initiative that seeks to build regional peace and stability through increased infrastructure and other links across the continent.

The forum will set the stage for a series of bilateral talks between Yun and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and other foreign ministers of the region.

Should the talks take place, Yun will call for support for stronger pressure on the North to force a change in its behavior as the communist regime has only stepped up its saber-rattling following last month's adoption of new U.N. Security Council sanctions against the regime.

North Korea is widely expected to conduct another nuclear test in the coming weeks to rally support around leader Kim Jong-un ahead of a rare congress of the ruling Workers' Party in early May. (Yonhap)