TOTTORI -- A meeting of local governments from five nations around the Sea of Japan scheduled for later this month is likely be canceled because of the financial difficulties of the Russian host, Tottori Prefectural Government officials said Wednesday.
The Primorsky territory in the Russian Far East has told the Tottori Prefectural Government it will not be able to hold the planned eighth Sea of Japan regional cooperation conference in Vladivostok as it wants to save money and does not have the resources for heating the meeting venue, the officials said.
A Tottori spokesman said the prefectural government will discuss the situation with other members. The members of the forum are Tottori Prefecture, Primorsky territory, Kangwon Province in South Korea, Jilin Province in China and Mongolia's Tov Province. Tov joined the forum last year.
The annual conference first took place in 1994 with Kangwon the host.