President Park Geun-hye will attend a forum here next week to meet with foreign leaders on water shortage and other issues of mutual and global concern, Park's office said Wednesday.
  

The planned meetings come as South Korea is set to host the 7th World Water Forum, the world's largest water event, from Sunday to Friday in the two southern cities of Daegu and Gyeongju.
  

On Sunday, Park will have separate talks with Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon and Prince Albert II of Monaco in Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province, about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
  

She also plans to meet with U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson and Angel Gurria, secretary general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of 34 mostly rich nations, on Sunday.
  

In Seoul, she will meet with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov on Monday, a day before holding two separate talks with leaders of Hungary and Ethiopia.
  

Park plans to discuss with the foreign leaders the issue of water as well as issues of mutual interest.
  

The U.N. warns on its website that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world's population could be living under water stressed conditions. (Yonhap)