Anchor: The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) kicked off its 19th Plenipotentiary Conference in Busan on Monday. The event marks the first time for South Korea to host the quadrennial conference, which is known as the Olympics of information communication technology.
Our Kim In-kyung reports on the event.
 
Report: The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a United Nations agency that deals with information and communications, kicked off a three-week conference in Busan on Monday.
 
Some three-thousand senior officials from 170 countries attended the opening ceremony, including President Park Geun-hye and Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning Choi Yang-hee.
 
The ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, held every four years, is the highest policy-making event held by the ITU, and its decisions impact public telecom policies worldwide. 
 
This year's conference will focus on Internet-related public policy, cyber security and resolving the information divide between advanced and developing countries.
 
In her speech at the opening ceremony, President Park said the international community must seek to resolve the digital divide in order to advance the human rights and welfare of people around the world.
 
Also at the event, delegates to the conference will adopt the result of the discussions held at the meeting as a protocol at the closing ceremony on November 7.
 
Participants will also elect new officials for 65 senior positions at the ITU, including the secretary-general. South Korea's Lee Chae-sub, an IT convergence researcher at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, will run for director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau.
 
On the sidelines of the conference, there will be export consultation meetings with foreign buyers, an information and communication technology exhibition, related forums and cultural events.
 
Meanwhile, three Ebola-hit member countries - Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia - decided to forgo this year's conference amid fears that the virus might spread. South Korea's health authorities will, however, continue to operate a situation room to be prepared for emergencies.
Kim In-kyung, KBS World Radio News.