World defense officials to gather at Seoul forum

High-ranking defense officials from 33 countries and five international organizations will gather Wednesday in Seoul to discuss ways to address global security issues, such as growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea. 

The fifth annual Seoul Defense Dialogue, hosted by the Defense Ministry under the theme “Complex Security Crisis: Challenges and Solutions,” is to run from Sept.7-9 at the Westin Chosun hotel in Seoul. 

Vice-ministerial talks will be held between South Korea’s Vice Defense Minister Hwang In-moo and delegates from 13 countries, including the US, Japan, Chile, the Philippines and Laos.

Participants include Kim Hong-kyun, the special representative for the Korean Peninsula’s peace and security affairs at Seoul’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, US Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy David Shear, Vice President for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Douglas Paal, and Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Ahmet Uzumcu.

Uzumcu is slated to deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony Thursday. Defense Minister Han Min-koo will deliver the opening remarks, followed by a congratulatory address by Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn.

China, which has been butting heads with South Korea over the deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system here, will not be sending delegates this year, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday. The plenary session for Thursday will be about the denuclearization of North Korea and international cooperation, while the two sessions on Friday will address maritime security cooperation along with cybersecurity challenges and defense cooperation.

“With rising missile and nuclear threats from North Korea, it is very significant that delegates of the six-party denuclearization talks -- except Pyongyang -- are discussing Pyongyang’s nuclear issues,” said the Defense Ministry. “As South Korean and US officials participating in the forum have in-depth knowledge about the North Korean nuclear program, we expect the discussion between experts to produce new solutions for this issue.”


By Yoon MIn-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)