South Korean Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo is set to make his debut in high-profile multilateral security consultations later this week.
At the 6th Asia Security Summit, better known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, Kim plans to put top priority on drumming up international support for Seoul's efforts to peacefully resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis.
The annual event, arguably a key event for defense and security diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific region, is to kick off on Friday for a three-day run in Singapore, bringing together defense ministers from 15 countries and other top-ranking military officers from a dozen nations, as well as a number of security experts.
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo is set to make his debut in high-profile multilateral security consultations later this week.
At the 6th Asia Security Summit, better known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, Kim plans to put top priority on drumming up international support for Seoul's efforts to peacefully resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis.
The annual event, arguably a key event for defense and security diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific region, is to kick off on Friday for a three-day run in Singapore, bringing together defense ministers from 15 countries and other top-ranking military officers from a dozen nations, as well as a number of security experts.
South Korea has been represented by a defense minister at the forum for years, but it is the first time for Kim to attend, as he took office late last year.
Kim plans to use his keynote speech, titled "Nuclear Challenges," during a Saturday session to emphasize the urgency of resolving the North Korean nuclear issue.
On the sidelines of the forum, he is also scheduled to hold a series of bilateral talks with his counterparts from New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Singapore, Japan and Indonesia.
"Minister Kim's participation in the event is expected to help expand the spectrum of our military diplomacy, as well as contribute to cementing alliances with the U.S., Japan, and other friendly countries," a ministry spokesman said.
A highlight for the South Korean media will be Kim's talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. They already had an even more serious discussion in their first meeting in February in Washington to set a date for Seoul to regain wartime operational control (OPCON) of its troops.
Kim could partly silence local conservatives' worries over possible security loopholes from the OPCON transition by delaying the target date until April 17 2012, later than the previously agreed upon timeframe between October 2009 and March 2012.
Kim and Gates are scheduled to meet again in Seoul in October for the annual Security Consultative Meeting, during which they are expected to work out details on the OPCON transition and address other issues of mutual concern.
"Their talks in Singapore is a kind of bridge meeting. It will offer a chance for the defense chiefs to review the development of a wide range of pending issues such as the OPCON transfer, the planned relocation of the large-scale U.S. base in central Seoul, and the return of U.S. bases to South Korea," the spokesman said.
The allies are trying to redefine the role and mission of the United Nations Command after the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command is automatically disbanded with the transition of wartime military control.
Also to draw keen media attention is an annual report published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a British think tank that organizes the Shangri-La Dialogue.
The yearly "Military Balance" report offers a glimpse into the defense capability of the secretive communist nation and other countries.
Last year, the report revealed that North Korea has about 10 more submarines than South Korean armed forces had previously believed. The North has 88 submarines, according to the report.
