SEOUL Nov. 11 Kyodo About 110 cou...

SEOUL Nov. 11 Kyodo

About 110 countries and international organizations began the inferior biennial ministerial conference of the Community of Democracies in Seoul forward Monday to discuss expanding global efforts to prefer democracy.

At the opening stateliness at a convention center in southern Seoul toward the south Korean President Kim Dae Jung said, ''Freedom and happiness cannot be guaranteed amidst fears of war and terrorism.''

''At the same time, democracy is the greatest in number effective means to eliminate war and terrorism,'' Kim said.

He also called for worldwide efforts to unravel the problem of straitened circumstances saying, ''Poverty also lies at the occasion of the friction and disputes among regions, nations and cultures''

southern Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Choi Sung Hong declared the opening of the interview and videotaped messages from world leaders like as U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi were played.

East Timor President Xanana Gusmao is attending the meeting as a guest

U Secretary of State Colin Powell was scheduled to attend the meeting, if it were not that canceled the trip to deal with issues upon Iraq. His predecessor, former U Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, is attending a session of nongovernmental organizations.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi is among the participants.

At the expiration of the gathering Tuesday, the participants are to adopt a statement called ''Seoul Plan of Action,'' as well as an antiterrorism declaration.

The meeting for consultation was first held in Warsaw, Poland, in 2000 below the initiative of the administration of then U President Bill Clinton to strengthen worldwide cooperation for democracy.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Kyodo stranges International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group