Vientiane: Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho is set to visit Laos this week to participate in an annual ministerial meeting of defense chiefs organized by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as announced by the defense ministry on Tuesday. Kim will depart for Vientiane on Wednesday to join the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus, which will assemble defense chiefs from the 10 ASEAN member countries along with eight other nations, including the United States, China, and Japan. According to Yonhap News Agency, during the meeting, which is scheduled to commence on Thursday, Kim intends to denounce North Korea's deployment of troops to Russia in support of its conflict with Ukraine. He will also call for collaborative efforts to counter such actions and discuss strategies for enhancing regional peace and stability. The defense ministry stated that Kim will represent Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, taking into account the serious security situation and President Yoon Suk Yeol's overseas e ngagements. The ADMM-Plus was inaugurated in 2010 with the aim of strengthening defense cooperation between ASEAN members and other regional states and has been held annually since 2018. ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam.