Asian, Middle East ministers to meet in South Korea

SEOUL (AFP) - Effective policy-making body, or talking shop? Supporters of a forum linking 30 countries across Asia and the Middle East will be eager to prove it has some purpose as it meets in South Korea this week.

The five-year-old Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) complements an alphabet soup of other Asian groupings such as ASEAN, SAARC and APEC.

Seoul's Deputy Foreign Minister Shim Yoon-Joe says it is significant as the first and only body covering the entire Asian continent, including the Middle East. Critics say the membership is too diverse for it to be meaningful.

As of late Thursday, 22 of the 30 members had confirmed they would send either foreign ministers or other minister-level officials.

The emphasis will be on cooperation in information technology. Efforts to persuade North Korea to scrap its nuclear programs will also be raised, along with energy security and other topics.