By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
An international conference inviting people who donate to North Korea will be held in Seoul Thursday to discuss issues regarding long-term support, democracy and economic cooperation.
The International Donor Conference on North Korea: Development, Human Rights and Democracy is co-hosted by the Seoul-based Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University and the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy.
This is considered the first gathering of officials from government agencies, international organizations and non-government organizations that have been involved in sending assistance to the secretive state.
During the conference, National Assembly Speaker Kim Hyong-o, U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Kathleen Stephens and Robert King, U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, are scheduled to deliver keynote speeches, organizers said.