South Korea became the sixth most popular conference destination in the world in 2011, moving up two places from its ranking the previous year, the government said Tuesday, citing global industry data.

   The number of international meetings held in South Korea last year was 469, about 4.6 percent of the total number of such conferences worldwide, according to the report by the Union of International Associations (UIA).

   Although the country's ranking gained two notches from 2010, the increase in total international meetings held in Asia's fourth-largest economy was only slight, adding only five conferences to the previous year's total of 464, according to the report.

   The number of international conferences worldwide fell from 11,519 in 2010 to 10,473, the report said.

   Singapore topped the list of conference hosts with 919 meetings, while the United States and Japan came in second and third with 744 and 598 meetings, respectively. France placed fourth with 557 meetings and Belgium fifth with 533.

   In rankings by city, Seoul came in fifth, unchanged from the previous year, having hosted 232 international forums. (Yonhap News)