Then came parleys with the grouping's dialogue partners as well as the security-oriented ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).

CNN: HEN THE FOREIGN MINISTERS

The July missile tests were scarcely mentioned during the ASEAN Regional Forum in Brunei earlier this month.

CNN: T WAS SUPPOSED TO

And ministers meet at the ASEAN Regional Forum and the Shangri-La dialogue.

WHITEHOUSE: The White House

China also faced an unsettling experience in July, at the annual ASEAN Regional Forum organised by the Association of South-East Asian Nations.

ECONOMIST: Banyan

At the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) on security in Bangkok, the North's first appearance elicited audible sighs of relief and largely unrestrained chumminess.

CNN: Star Treatment

And on July 23, he will join the 21-member ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) on security, which includes the U.S., Russia, China, Japan and the European Union.

CNN: TEST OF WILLS

The United States appointed a special envoy to ASEAN, based in Jakarta, signed the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Co-operation, and has taken part in the ASEAN Regional Forum, a security talking-shop.

ECONOMIST: South-East Asian summitry

We appreciated the substantial increase in high-level U.S. engagement in ASEAN-led political-security fora, including the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus), the EAS, and the Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum.

WHITEHOUSE: Joint Statement of the 4th ASEAN-U.S. Leaders' Meeting

During the meeting on the sidelines of the Asean regional forum, Mr Yang told Mrs Clinton that the US should "respect the interests and concerns of China", China Daily and People's Daily report.

BBC: China morning round-up: A US-China stand-off

That's what happened when Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun flew in to attend a July 27 meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the seven-year-old security panel in which Pyongyang would participate for the first time.

CNN: Relegated to the Sidelines?

The U.S., through its stabilizing and supportive role in the region at this time, is in a position to force the inclusion of the East Timor question in the ASEAN Regional Forum, and to encourage a dialogue on human rights and democracy.

CNN: T COMES AS NO

Since its founding, ASEAN has grown from a modest forum for regional cooperation to an institutionalized organization responsible for a broad range of practical cooperation, and the driver for broader regional economic, political, and security integration.

WHITEHOUSE: The White House

General Surayud Chulanont, the prime minister in Thailand's military-backed government, suggested the creation of a regional forum to solve Myanmar's crisis, comprising ASEAN, India, China and the UN, modelled on the six-party talks on North Korea.

ECONOMIST: Why ASEAN should be worried about Myanmar

They are meeting on the sidelines of the Asean forum in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, amid regional tension.

BBC: Asean talks: US and China pledge to co-operate on Asia