S. Korea's Yeosu to host int'l ocean forum on climate change

South Korea will this week host an international ocean forum partly aimed at discussing ways to fight climate change and deal with changing ocean environments, the government said Wednesday.

The Yeosu International Ocean Forum 2014 will be held on Thursday and Friday in the southwestern city of Yeosu, also the host city of the 2012 international exposition, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

The two-day forum is expected to draw some 600 officials and experts from around the world, including Anote Tong, president of Kiribati, a country located in the central Pacific Ocean that is expected to be the world's first nation to lose all its territory to climate change.

"The Yeosu International Ocean Forum will be held regularly as a venue for discussions on issues related to climate change that are most critical to developing countries and island nations in the Pacific, while also evaluating the progress of the country's Yeosu Project," the ministry said in a press release.

The Yeosu Project, according to the ministry, is an assistance program the country pledged to the international community when bidding for the 2012 world expo, under which the country will provide necessary technology and training to developing countries to allow them to deal with their own maritime issues, including those stemming from climate change.

During the two-day forum in the city, located 455 kilometers from capital Seoul, President Tong will give a special speech on climate change, while Nancy Wallace, a director from the United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is scheduled to offer a keynote speech on marine debris, the ministry said. (Yonhap)