Leaders of conservative parties from around the world will gather in Seoul this week to discuss ways to boost freedom and democracy, officials of South Korea’s ruling party said Sunday.
The 2014 Party Leaders Meeting of the International Democrat Union (IDU) will kick off Wednesday for a three-day run, bringing together some 110 representatives from 40 counties, according to the officials of the Saenuri Party.
Under the theme of “Strengthening Freedom and Democracy — Meeting New Challenges,” the meeting will be focused on the future of conservative politics, development of the world economy and global peace, and promotion of exchanges and cooperation among conservative parties.
Participants include former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, and other high-profile politicians and government ministers, they said, adding German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron will skip the meeting for personal reasons.
It will mark South Korea’s second hosting of the IDU meeting, following the one in 1995.
In a keynote speech at the meeting Friday, Kim Moo-sung, chairman of the ruling party, will explain South Korea’s party politics and the future of the nation’s democratic evolution as well as touch on North Korea’s nuclear program and human rights conditions.
Also on Friday, the participants will attend a reception to be hosted by President Park Geun-hye and tour the Joint Security Area (JSA) near the border village of Panmunjom, according to the officials.
Headquartered in Oslo, the IDU is an association of 57 conservative political parties in 52 countries. The Democratic Liberal Party, the predecessor of the Saenuri Party, joined the association in 1992.
The IDU was founded in 1983 by such prominent politicians as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, French President Jacques Chiraq and former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. (Yonhap)
