1. The 17^th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Inter-Sessional Meeting on Disaster Relief and the 10^th ARF Inter-Sessional Meeting on Non-Proliferation and Disarmament will take place at Lotte Hotel, Seoul, on April 4 and 5-6, respectively.

° The Republic of Korea, together with Thailand, is serving as a co-chair of the Inter-Sessional Meeting on Disaster Relief in 2017 and 2018, and, along with Japan and Indonesia, as a co-chair of the Inter-Sessional Meeting on Non-Proliferation and Disarmament from 2017 till 2020. The ROK’s co-chairs of the two Meetings are Director-General for Development Cooperation Oh Hyun-joo and Director-General for Nonproliferation and Nuclear Affairs Lim Sang-beom of the Foreign Ministry, respectively.

° The Inter-Sessional Meeting on Disaster Relief and the Inter-Sessional Meeting on Non-Proliferation and Disarmament were first held in 1997 and 2009, respectively. Their forthcoming round in the ROK will mark their first to take place in the country.

2. At the 17^th ARF Inter-Sessional Meeting on Disaster Relief on April 4, some 80 delegates from ARF member states and international organizations will discuss the progress in cooperation in the region on disaster management and the way forward for the cooperation; ways to build capacity for disaster management and disaster risk reduction; new relevant issues and challenges; and the ARF Work Plan for Disaster Relief 2018-2020.

° The ROK government delegation to the Meeting will be comprised of officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the National Fire Agency and other government agencies related to disaster management.

3. The 10^th ARF Inter-Sessional Meeting on Non-Proliferation and Disarmament on April 5 and 6 will bring together some 50 delegates from ARF member countries and international organizations for an exchange of views on the progress in non-proliferation and disarmament efforts in the region; the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT); ways to work together to curtail threats of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and on non-proliferation; and peaceful uses of atomic energy.

4. The results of the forthcoming Meetings will be reported at the ARF Inter-Sessional Support Group Meeting on Confidence Building Measures and Preventive Diplomacy in May, the ARF Senior Officials’ Meeting in June and the ARF foreign ministerial meeting in late July.

5. The ROK’s concurrent service as a chair of the two ARF Meetings is expected to contribute to the country’s efforts to implement its New Southern Policy designed to enhance its relations with ASEAN; to lead discussions in the region on not only traditional but also non-traditional security issues; and thereby to enhance its diplomatic status.

6. The ARF was launched in 1994 to enhance mutual trust and understanding through dialogue on key political and security issues and thereby to build peace and stability in the region. This largest consultative mechanism on security in the Asia-Pacific region seeks substantive cooperation on confidence building and preventive diplomacy in the areas of disaster relief; non-proliferation and disarmament; maritime security; counter-terrorism and transnational crimes; and security of information and communications technology (ICT).

* unofficial translation