Tumen development body likely to be upgraded into int'l organization

SEJONG, Oct. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea, China, Russia and Mongolia are likely to upgrade the status of a regional association for the development of areas near the Tumen River, the finance ministry said Wednesday.

Officials from the four countries recently held their 14th meeting on the Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia where they have discussed whether to transform the regional cooperation body into an international organization.

The GTI is a regional cooperation body for development near the river border between China and North Korea. It is also an initiative supported by the United Nations Development Program.

At the meeting, the participants also reviewed cooperative projects in such fields as transportation, trade, tourism and energy.

The next meeting of the GTI is to be held in China, it added.Any source