JEJU-DO < invest Korea

According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) Korea will co-host a United Nations conference on disarmament and non-proliferation this week on Jeju Island to discuss a pathway for denuclearization of North Korea and other disarmament issues, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.

The U.N.-Republic of Korea Joint Conference on Disarmament and Non-proliferation to run from Thursday to Friday in the southern resort city is its 16th annual round since the first meeting in 2002. Most pressing issues in the disarmament and non-proliferation fields are selected each year and put to discussion behind closed doors.

About 60 foreign diplomats, South Korean government officials and experts, including Oh Young-ju, deputy minister for multilateral and global affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Izumi Nakamitsu, under-secretary-general and high representative for disarmament Affairs at the U.N., will take part in the conference, said the ministry.

This year's meeting will discuss North Korean nuclear issues as well as technological advances like artificial intelligence and three-dimensional printing and their challenges to peace and security, according to the foreign ministry and the U.N.

Regional and global development in the areas of non-proliferation and disarmament and strengthening the verification and control of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials will also be put to discussion, they said.

On the sidelines of the conference, South Korea and India will have their first round of disarmament and non-proliferation consultative meetings, the foreign ministry also said.

"Through the joint conference, South Korea will continue to contribute to the global discourse of disarmament and non-proliferation and will also enhance its status as a leading player in the non-proliferation front," according to the ministry.

"This annual conference provides an important forum for a candid and constructive exchange of views among participants on current challenges to security, disarmament, non-proliferation and arms-control issues, both at the global and the regional level," the U.N. also said in its statement.

pbr@yna.co.kr

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