British Ambassador to Korea Colin Crooks speaks during a session at the Korea Times Forum in Seoul, June 5. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

The unification ministry has added more women as panelists for an upcoming security policy forum after Britain's top envoy to Korea snubbed the event due to a skewed representation of female speakers.

The ministry added six female experts to the list of panelists for the Global Korea Forum, scheduled for Tuesday, according to the event's website Friday. This brings the total number of female speakers to seven out of the now 27 panelists.

The hasty move came as the British Embassy in Seoul announced that Ambassador Colin Crooks would not participate in the forum, voicing concern over the lack of gender diversity among the panelists.

The ministry said it had contacted many experts, regardless of gender or nationality, but the panel ended up being all male because all the female professionals were unable to attend.

But soon after Crooks' announcement, the ministry added one woman and two other men to the panel.

The ministry appears to have decided to add several more female panelists as Crooks' withdrawal from the forum quickly made media headlines.

The Global Korea Forum, hosted by the unification ministry, is an annual forum on the security and policy regarding the Korean Peninsula. This year's theme is "Unified Korean Peninsula for Freedom, Peace and Prosperity." (Yonhap)