Seoul to host regional security forum next week

South Korea plans to hold a regional security forum next week that will be attended by China for the first time, the defense ministry here said Tuesday.

The 3rd Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD) will be held for a three-day run from Oct. 29 at a hotel in Seoul, bringing together vice defense ministers and security experts from 26 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the Ministry of National Defense said. 

In the forum, the officials will discuss ways to tighten trust among Asian-Pacific nations' military sectors as well as South Korea's policy drive for the unification of the peninsula, the ministry said. 

China plans to send its first nine-member delegation to the SDD as part of efforts to expand bilateral military cooperation with the South, according to the ministry. 

On the sidelines of the forum, Baek Seung-joo, South Korea's vice defense minister, will hold bilateral meetings with Hideshi Tokuchi, director general of the Japanese Defense Ministry's Defense Policy Bureau, as well as other officials.

Side issues to be discussed in the forum include humanitarian aid, relief rescue operations, maritime security and cyber security among the different countries, the ministry added. 

"This upcoming Seoul Defense Dialogue is expected to contribute to (the countries') search for practical solutions to their (committed) path from conflict to cooperation in order to secure peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region including the Korean Peninsula," the ministry said. (Yonhap)