U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will host all 10 of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations defense ministers in Hawaii for an inaugural U.S.-ASEAN Defense Forum in April.

The forum will take place April 1-3.

ASEAN’s member states include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Pentagon last week reported that senior U.S. and South Korean officials concluded a two-day threats exercise at the U.S. Pacific Command headquarters at Camp Smith focused on weapons of mass destruction.

About 40 defense and foreign affairs government officials and military officers participated in the third session of the Extended Deterrence Policy Committee tabletop exercise.

The exercise scenario was designed to allow officials to explore a range of possible alliance responses to a nuclear crisis involving South Korea.

Highlights of the exercise included briefings on nuclear, conventional and missile defense capabilities supporting deterrence and extended deterrence; discussions regarding a range of possible alliance response measures centered on nuclear threat scenarios; and site visits to U.S. military facilities that support deterrence and extended deterrence on the Korean Peninsula, including an air operations center and a missile defense naval vessel.

Yoo Jeh Seung, deputy defense minister for policy, led the Republic of Korea delegation. Elaine Bunn, deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear and missile defense policy, and David Helvey, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, co-led the U.S. delegation.