South Korea will call for multilateral defense cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region at a forum to be attended by ranking defense officials from 27 countries, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Tuesday.
The military officials will meet from Nov. 11 to 14 on the Indonesian resort island of Bali for the annual conference, the JCS said.
Lt. Gen. Kim Ki-soo of the JCS will represent South Korea at the forum, which will also provide participants with various opportunities to hold talks on bilateral and multilateral issues, the JCS said.
Initiated in 1998 by the U.S. Pacific Command, the forum seeks to foster military cooperation and increase exchanges between the countries in the region, it said.
``The conference is viewed to have greatly contributed to the development of military ties among Asia-Pacific countries,'' the JCS said in a press release. The conference will be held in Seoul in 2010.