Lee to speak at Asia security forum

President Lee Myung-bak will attend an annual security forum of defense ministers opening in Singapore this week and seek support for efforts to procure peace on the Korean Peninsula, the Blue House announced yesterday.

Lee will leave Friday for a two-day visit that also includes a summit Saturday with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, according to the presidential office.

The president will give a keynote speech at the ninth Asia Security Summit on South Korea’s rise from the devastation of the 1950-1953 Korean War and the goal to assume a greater role in the international community, it said.

He will also address the current security situation on the Korean Peninsula and ask for support to bring peace to the peninsula and the region, the Blue House said.

South Korea is rallying the international community for unified action against North Korea for sinking one of its warships in March.

A multinational investigation team concluded last month that a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo at the 1,200-ton corvette Cheonan, bringing it down and killing 46 sailors aboard. Pyongyang denies any involvement and calls the accusations a “charade.”

The security forum, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, will draw defense ministers of 28 countries, including South Korea, the United States, China and Japan. The event is organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based think tank. Yonhap