On 14 January 2013, Mr. Arthayudh Srisamoot, Director-General of the ASEAN Affairs Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand together with Mr. Chatchai Phromlert, Director General of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Ministry of Interior of Thailand, and Ms. Oh Young Ju, Deputy Director-General, Development Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Republic of Korea, co-chair the opening session of ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Disaster Relief Exercise (DiREx) 2013 Initial Planning Conference (IPC) at Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand.