Manila, July 23 (IANS): South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Hyun on Thursday called on North Korea to respond to Seoul's offers for dialogue and join efforts to promote peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula at a regional security forum in Manila, South Korea's foreign ministry said. Cho made the remarks during the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), a 27-member multilateral security forum attended by the 11 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states and major regional powers, including the United States, China, Japan and Russia, Yonhap News Agency reported. The ARF is the only regional multilateral security forum in which both South and North Korea participate, but Pyongyang was absent from this year's session for the second consecutive year. The minister also expressed hope that the ARF would continue to play a constructive role in promoting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. The minister also reaffirmed South Korea's commitment to expanding its contributions to ARF activities, noting that Seoul will take part in co-chairing several ARF inter-sessional meetings, including those on counter-terrorism and transnational crime, the ministry said.