KOREA INSTITUTE OF GEOSCIENCE AND MINERAL RESOURCES

The 45th CCOP Annual Session and the 52nd Steering Committee Meeting were held in Khon Kaen Pullman Raja Orchid Hotel, Thailand on November 23-30, 2008. There were in total of 125 participants from member countries, cooperative countries, and observer countries. For this congregation, president Ho Wan Chang, the head of delegation, led 8 participants from KIGAM, and each delegate fulfilled for strengthening and renewing friendships and alliances for the future of geological society. This year's Annual Session included Thematic Session on “Geoscience Context in Response to the Current Global Issues”, and 31 recent studies were presented regarding the given issue.

While the congregation was on going, the political situation in Thaland was extremely shattering. The Anti-government protesters (as known as, PAD) occupied all international airports in Bangkok for a week since November 25th, 2008. Due to the incident, many participants of the Annual Session and delegates from Korea had to shift their schedules.