Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, considered the most active user of social networking services among South Korea‘s cabinet ministers, will hold a Twitter conference next week with the public, the ministry said Saturday.

It said Kim and Ha Young-sun, a political science professor at Seoul National University, will talk about a range of foreign policy issues as the minister takes and answers questions on Twitter and Facebook.

The ministry said the 100 people who registered through Twitter can attend the session in person.

For about an hour and a half, Kim is expected to discuss regional security, international cooperation and free trade agreements.

“The minister wanted to reach out to people and communicate with them,” a ministry official said. “It will be the first session of its kind at our ministry.”

Sources said Kim earlier wanted to appear in a television debate program to make himself more visible for the public. But he decided to use social networks instead after ministry officials expressed concerns that it would be inappropriate for the minister to be seen arguing with other panel members on contentious issues. (Yonhap News)