Ministers or vice ministerial-level senior officials from 76 countries will speak at a virtual United Nations peacekeeping conference hosted by South Korea Tuesday and Wednesday.

According to Seoul's foreign ministry, 15 foreign ministers, 29 defense ministers, one veterans affairs minister and vice ministers of 20 nations have registered as speakers for the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial forum as of Monday noon. 

In the virtual conference, they will speak about their countries' contribution to improving UN peacekeeping operations.

Seoul had initially planned an in-person gathering of some 700 people, its largest international conference since the outbreak of the pandemic, but had to change to a virtual format amid fears of the omicron variant.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres will share welcome greetings in a video message at the opening ceremony followed by remarks by Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and Defense Minister Suh Wook.