An international symposium on plant genetic resources opened Thursday in the resort island of Jeju for a three-day run.

Jointly organized by the Korean Breeding Society and the Korea Academy of Native Species, the meeting was attended by some 400 experts from ten countries.

The first day saw the introduction of various global accords on the sector and the results of related studies.

Debates also focused on the future of genetic resources research.

Domestic experts especially stressed cooperation and joint usage of such resources among global think tanks and resource-rich countries including China, Japan and Malaysia.