PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet said Monday that his country will implement military conscription starting next year, in an announcement that coincides with persistent border tensions with Thailand.

Relations between the neighbors have deteriorated sharply following an armed confrontation on May 28 in which one Cambodian soldier was killed in one of several small contested patches of land.

The sides have agreed to de-escalate their dispute to avoid further clashes, but continue to implement or threaten measures that have kept tensions high, alongside exchanging sharp words.

The dispute has also roiled Thailand’s domestic politics. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended from office after making what critics saw as a disparaging comment about her country’s military in a phone call to Cambodia’s former Prime Minister Hun Sen, who leaked a recording of it.

Hun Manet, Hun Sen’s son and successor, said that starting in 2026, an existing law on conscription would be implemented to fill shortages and upgrade the military’s capabilities.