Hor Namhong, also Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, will lead a group of experts to attend the open trial, which is to “focus on measures to preserve the Preah Vihear temple”, according to a press release issued by the ministry on May 26.

The trial was requested by Cambodia to clarify the ICJ’s 1962 verdict on temple-related issues. Cambodia also called on the ICJ to recommend measures for the conservation of the temple.

Earlier, Cambodia declared that it considered efforts towards the temple’s conservation as essential to the imposition of a long-term ceasefire in the disputed area along the border with Thailand.

The ceasefire would help protect both sides from injuries and the temple from serious damage until the ICJ’s 1962 verdict was made clear, said the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

For Thailand, Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan confirmed that the General Border Committee between Thailand and Cambodia will meet after an observation team makes a field trip to the disputed area.

The agreement was made by Wongsuwan and his Cambodian counterpart, Tea Banh, at a recent ASEAN Defence Minister Meeting (ADMM) in Jakarta, Indonesia .

Under the agreement, a nine-member observation team, including representatives from Indonesia, chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year, will be allowed to enter the disputed areas, except the disputed 4.6 sq. km stretch near the temple.