BANGKOK, 14 January 2013 Thailand and South Korea will co-host the 3rd ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) on Disaster Relief Exercise (DiREx) in May this year.
In order to increase the potential of military and civilian personnel as well as the collaboration among ASEAN and its dialogue partners in Asia and the Pacific, Thailand and South Korea will hold a joint ARF DiREx. To prepare all related parties for the exercise, a meeting was held on Monday, with participants from 10 ASEAN nations and ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) members
The ARF DiREX is held once every two years. The first exercise was held in 2009 in the Philippines. Two years after that, the drill was held in Indonesia. This year the event will be held in Cha-am District in Phetchaburi during May 7-11.
The ASEAN leaders were of the opinion that the region should intensify its external dialogues in political and security matters as a means of building cooperative ties with states in the Asia-Pacific region. Hence, the establishment of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in 1994; with members including the 10 ASEAN nations, the US, Japan, South Korea, the European Union and some Asian nations.
