hankyoreh

A regional forum of 27 nations, including South and North Korea, China, Japan and the United States, will open in the southeastern port city of Busan later Tuesday to study ways to fight global terrorism through the Internet, the Foreign Ministry said.

Co-hosted by the ministry and the National Cyber Security Center of the country's state intelligence agency, the seminar will run from Tuesday to Thursday, according to a press release.

It is expected to be attended by some 90 officials and experts from the 27 member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum (ARF).

"As the only multilateral security forum in the Asia-Pacific region attended by both the South and North Korea, the ARF greatly contributes to the peace and security in the area," the statement said.

A group of four North Korean officials, led by Jong Song-il, deputy director of international organizations bureau at the North's Foreign Ministry, arrived in Busan Monday via Beijing, ministry officials said.

The ARF seminar on terrorism through the Internet has been held annually since 2004.

"It will help establish international cooperation in countering cyber terrorism, which has already become one of the major transborder crimes, while helping nations share their information and experience," the statement said.

A chairman's statement is expected to be issued at the end of the three-day seminar, and will followed by a tour by participants of the nearby industrial city of Changwon.

SEOUL, Oct. 16 (Yonhap)