South Korea pledged Thursday to make various contributions to international efforts to curb violent extremism as a top diplomat of the country attended an international conference hosted by the White House to move such efforts forward.

Second Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said no country is immune from violent extremism, citing the case of a South Korean teenager who is believed to have crossed the border from Turkey into Syria voluntarily to join the militant group Islamic State, the ministry said in a statement.



Minister- and vice minister-level officials from about 60 countries attended the White House "Summit on Countering Violent Extremism" in addition to U.S. President Barack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Cho emphasized in particular the importance of education in reducing extremism and said South Korea will place greater emphasis on vocational training when providing development assistance to less well-off nations, the ministry said.

In addition, Cho pledged to help raise the awareness of the issue among South Korean social networking services and strengthen their capabilities to cope with messages of violent extremism.

In countering violent extremism, Obama stressed the importance of making people economically better off through vocational training and job creation, resolving political grievances through democratic principles and respect for human rights and actively engaging younger people to ensure they are not swayed by violent extremism.

U.N. chief Ban said he will convene a special event in the coming months that will bring together faith leaders from all around the world to promote mutual understanding and reconciliation.

Based on this week's conference, the participants agreed to strengthen information sharing and take other follow-up steps, including holding regional conferences, and hold a leaders-level conference in September to check on progress, the ministry said. (Yonhap)