Acting Defense Minister Likely to Skip This Year's 'Shangri-La Dialogue'

To Review Readiness Against North Korea Ahead of Early Presidential Election

Acting Minister of National Defense Kim Seon-ho is reportedly considering not attending the upcoming Asia Security Conference (commonly known as the 'Shangri-La Dialogue') scheduled to be held in Singapore at the end of May.

Yonhap News

According to the military on the 18th, Acting Minister Kim has expressed his intention not to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue, which will take place from May 30 to June 1. If Acting Minister Kim does not attend, it is reported that Cho Chang-rae, Director of the Defense Policy Office, will attend in his place.

The reason Acting Minister Kim is considering not attending the Shangri-La Dialogue is reportedly due to the need to review the readiness posture against North Korea ahead of the early presidential election scheduled for June 3.

A Ministry of National Defense official stated, "Although nothing has been finalized yet, considering the timing just before the early election (June 3) and various other factors, it was judged that it would be difficult for the acting minister to attend."

According to the Ministry of National Defense, the Shangri-La Dialogue, which began in 2002, was initially a meeting attended by director-level officials, but as the scale and influence of the conference grew, it was elevated to a ministerial-level meeting in 2004. Our side has also had the Minister of National Defense attend every year from 2004 until last year.