United Nations-Republic of Korea Joint Conference: Opportunities, Challenges in Disarmament, Non-proliferation, Republic of Korea, 4-5 December

NEW YORK, 3 December (Office for Disarmament Affairs) — The thirteenth United Nations-Republic of Korea Joint Conference on Disarmament and Non-proliferation Issues will take place on Jeju Island, Republic of Korea, from 4 to 5 December.

This annual event is organized jointly by the Office for Disarmament Affairs, through its Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, and the Government of the Republic of Korea.  Over 40 representatives from Governments and intergovernmental organizations as well as policy institutes and academia will participate in the Conference.  The Director and Deputy to the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs and the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea will address the opening session.

This year’s Conference, themed “Looking Ahead: Opportunities and Challenges in Disarmament and Non-proliferation”, will focus on the 2015 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; pressing nuclear non-proliferation challenges; and lethal autonomous weapons systems.

The annual Conference, hosted by the Republic of Korea since 2002, has become an important forum characterized by a constructive and frank exchange of views among Government officials, independent experts and scholars, as well as civil society representatives on the challenges and solutions to current and upcoming disarmament, arms control and security issues.  It also addresses particular disarmament and non-proliferation concerns in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Conference is financed through voluntary contributions from the Government of the Republic of Korea.

For further information, please contact Yuriy Kryvonos, Interim Director, United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, tel:  +977 1 501 0257, fax: +977 1 501 0223, e-mail: info@unrcpd.org.