11 November 2012

News Story: Seoul Launches New Forum for Asia-Pacific Security Talks


By JUNG SUNG-KI

SEOUL — South Korea will hold a multinational security dialogue Nov. 14-16 to discuss efforts to ease military tensions in the Asia-Pacific region. The first Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD) comes under the spotlight because of growing territorial disputes in northeastern Asia, as well as the increasing North Korean military threat.

The goal is for attendees of the SDD, the first vice ministerial-level security forum in the region, to develop practical “action plans” to deal with regional security issues, said Lee Young-geol, South Korea’s vice defense minister.

“South Korea is one of the few countries receiving the world’s attention due to volatile security conditions, but unfortunately, we didn’t have a security dialogue channel that can address security issues on the Korean Peninsula as well as in the Asia-Pacific region,” Lee said in an interview with Defense News.

Read the full story at DefenseNews