The first strategic meeting for the East Sea gas and oil project was held on Friday to discuss drilling plans, as well as measures to attract investment.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that it held the meeting, chaired by Minister Ahn Duk-geun, and discussed drilling plans, system improvements, and attracting investment.

The meeting was attended by related ministers, Korea National Oil Corporation(KNOC) and Korea Gas Corporation(KOGAS), in addition to related national research institutes and academic societies.

Minister Ahn said during the meeting that KNOC has prepared a tentative basic drilling plan and will determine the first drilling location.

As each drilling operation will cost more than 100 billion won, or more than 71 million U.S. dollars, the industry minister said he plans to make efforts to attract domestic and foreign investment under the principle of maximizing national interest.