A three-day regional workshop on Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) International Cooperation was held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from 18-20 October 2005.

The workshop took place at the invitation of the Government of the Republic of Korea and was organized by the Provisional Technical Secretariat (PTS) of the Preparatory Commission for the CTBTO with the support of the Korea National Data Centre at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources. Thirty-six participants from nineteen States of the South-East Asia, the Pacific and the Far East Region as well as a representative of the United Nations Department of Disarmament Affairs attended the workshop.

The objective of the workshop was to provide an overview of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), the work of the Preparatory Commission and the CTBT verification technologies; to promote the establishment of the CTBT verification regime in the South-East Asia, the Pacific and the Far East Region and the entry into force of the CTBT; to review possible benefits of civil and scientific application of the CTBT verification technologies; and to explore and identify ways to promote cooperation among States in the region.

In his welcoming address, H.E. Mr. Yung-woo Chun, Deputy Minister for Policy Planning and International Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea, referred to the significant progress made regarding the ratification of the CTBT. Pointing out that only half of the States of the South-East Asia, the Pacific and the Far East Region had ratified the Treaty so far, he stressed that entry into force of the CTBT would be of significance to re-inspire confidence in global efforts towards nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.