During the 22nd UNEP Governing Council, Korea was selected as the host nation for the 8th Special Session of Governing Council meeting and the 5th Global Ministerial Environment Forum of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) next year.

The next year's meeting is planned to be held in Seoul for 3 days, during March 29-31, 2004. It will be attended by minister-level officials from more than 130 countries, representatives from international agencies and some 700 individual environmentalists.

Korean delegation to the 22nd UNEP Governing Council expressed its excitement in hosting the next year's meeting, saying that this will be the first of such meeting in Asia.