JEJU, REPUBLIC OF KOREA, Thursday, 17 May 2018 – Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) 2018 workshop was held in Jeju, Republic of Korea from 14th to 17th May 2018. 24 Head of Delegations from 20 countries of the Western Pacific Region and observers from Republic of India, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, United Mexican States and United Kingdom attended the workshop. Representative from Royal Brunei Navy (RBN) attended the workshop as head of delegation was Commander Sahibul Bahari bin Hj Zainal Abidin, RBN.
The workshop started with welcoming remarks by Rear Admiral Youn Jeong Song, Commander, Naval Forces Analysis, Test and Evaluation, Republic of Korea Navy. In his remarks, he emphasised more towards naval cooperation in order to enhance the sea safety. Non-traditional threat is becoming serious and is also part of the discussed agenda and not to forget disaster relief. This workshop served as a platform for participating countries shared opinion and ideas openly in order to improve cooperation.
Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) as the host also shared on WPNS recent activities and future activities for participating nation to take note.
On the sidelines of those events, participants took the opportunity for a cultural visit and visit to Jeju Naval Base.
The 16th WPNS symposium will be held in October 2018 in the Republic of Korea and subsequently WPNS workshop 2019 will be held in June 2019 hosted by Brunei Darussalam.