The ongoing ASEAN meetings in Manila have provided a rare chance for the DPRK's top diplomat to come face-to-face with his counterparts from countries like South Korea, China and the United States. Amid heightened regional tensions following the DPRK's two successive Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) tests in July, the meetings are now being closely watched, as the world waits to see what sort of role ASEAN can play in the Korean Peninsula nuclear crisis.