YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — The top U.S. military official in South Korea will hold an online chat with Koreans on Wednesday night, the second live Internet conversation he’s had with the native residents in the past year.

The online chat with U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. Leon LaPorte will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday at www.chosun.com, according to the USFK public affairs office. The conversation will be broadcast simultaneously in English and Hangul, LaPorte’s press office said.

Last year, a similar 80-minute session drew more than 1,000 questions. Officials estimated that nearly 1 million “Netizens” in one of the world’s most-wired countries watched at least part of the discussion, which also included three students and a Korean businessman.

LaPorte hopes to make the Internet chat a more regular event, said spokeswoman Maj. Edwina Walton. He hopes to hold as many as four this year.

Questions and comments from the first chat covered issues such as the long-term role of the U.S. military on the peninsula, the status of forces agreement between the United States and South Korea and crimes committed by American servicemembers.

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