S. Korea to host working-level Asian defense forum next week: ministry

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, April 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will host a four-day working-level
regional security forum next week in Seoul, its defense ministry said Thursday.
The forum that kicks off Sunday will draw ranking defense officials from 27
parties, including Japan, China, the United States and the 10-nation Association
of Southeast Asia (ASEAN), it said.
All participants belong to the ASEAN Regional Forum, or ARF, a key security
dialogue channel for Asia.
"The members will hold discussions on military countermeasures on cyber security
and inter-governmental threats," the Ministry of National Defense said in a
statement.
During the forum, formally named the Inter-sessional Support Group on Confidence
Building Measures and Preventive Diplomacy, South Korea and Singapore will
co-chair a Defense Officials Dialogue to discuss ways to improve security
cooperation, the ministry said.
The upcoming forum will mark the first time South Korea has served as its host,
the ministry added.
ASEAN consists of Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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