Defense Minister Kim Dong-shin received the 21 members of the U.S. Defense Orientation Conference Association (DOCA) currently visiting Korea, including Los Angeles City Council Vice Chairman Gorden Gray at his office Friday.

Kim exchanged views with them on recent developments on the peninsula and on a future-oriented development for the South Korean-U.S. alliance.

The DOCA consists of leading figures from a variety of U.S. organizations.

The visiting DOCA group arrived in Seoul Wednesday for a week-long stay, during which time it will visit the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, the Seventh U.S. Air Force and Panmunjom.

A Defense Ministry official denied as groundless the news report that the DOCA group's visit is related to the government's next-generation fighter acquisition project estimated at $7.67 billion dollars.