Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan will attend next week's regional security talks in Cambodia hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a senior official said Friday.

A trilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba was set for Wednesday on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum, the foreign ministry official said.

"Minister Kim decided to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum as scheduled," the official said on the condition of anonymity.

It had been unclear for days if Kim will attend the annual security talks as his ministry has struggled to mitigate political outcry over the mishandling of a military pact with Japan.

The minister has been in final consultations with senior officials at both the ruling and opposition parties to take part in the security talks, the official said, adding Kim will report the ministry's handling of the pact with Japan to the National Assembly after attending the security talks.

Korea shelved the signing of the military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan at the last minute on June 29 amid mounting public criticism over the Cabinet's secret approval of the delicate pact with the former colonial ruler.

One of the key foreign-policy aides to President Lee Myung-bak, Kim Tae-hyo, tendered his resignation on Thursday to take responsibility for the fiasco. (Yonhap)