South Korea foreign ministry on Tuesday said the country was reconsidering plans to host a major international conference on UN peacekeeping and other diplomatic events scheduled for December amid omicron variant.
The ministry was supposed to host the 2021 Seoul UN Peacekeeping Ministerial from Dec. 7 to Dec. 8 and the Korea-Africa forum the following days, but concerns over the latest variant, first reported in southern Africa, have cast a cloud over relevant plans.
Ahn Eun-ju, deputy spokesperson, in a press briefing said “as the omicron virus has been rapidly spreading, the government is reconsidering plans for the upcoming events scheduled in December.’’
The UN peacekeeping forum was expected to be the nation’s largest in-person international conference since the pandemic.
However, the ministry was forced to reconsider the plan to invite guests from over 100 nations due to a travel ban on foreign arrivals from eight African countries.
“We have been consulting (with the UN) over various options,” a foreign ministry official said.
The ministry has also been consulting with members of the African Union, the co-organisers of the forum, over potential changes to the meeting with consultations with local health authorities as well, the official said. (Yonhap/NAN)
