Speech at the Luncheon Hosted by
the UN Association of the Republic of Korea
on the 63rd Anniversary of UN Day

Excellencies,
Distinguished Members of the UN Association of the Republic of Korea,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to join all of you today to commemorate the 63rd Anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. While the real "birthday" of the UN is still a few days away, I am nevertheless glad to take this opportunity to thank the UN Association of Korea for its many successful activities over the past year – including the hosting of a special reception for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last July. And, I would like to thank President Kim Seung Youn and Vice President and CEO Sun Joun-yung for their excellent stewardship in leading the work of the UNA-Korea.

Distinguished Guests,

I wish to start by sharing with you the efforts of the Korean government to more fully engage with the global community. As you are aware, President Lee Myung-bak’s administration has set forth the goal of realizing a truly "Global Korea" as an important national agenda. 

Being a divided nation with geopolitical constraints, it has not always been easy for the Republic of Korea to broaden our horizons beyond the bounds of the Korean Peninsula. However, our unprecedented interactions with other countries today in this globalized world, not to mention other factors, warrant Korea’s greater role in and more contributions to the international community. Korea is now the world’s 13th largest economy with the 12th largest trade volume. We depend on the world, and the world depends on us. 

The process of globalization has also brought about a multitude of global and transnational issues across all sectors. Because of their prevalence and far-reaching impacts, these issues cannot be tackled by a single nation on its own. Collective responses to global problems are not only necessary but also advantageous to everyone. There is a growing consensus that inter-dependence and burden-sharing will ultimately be more beneficial and less costly than "going it alone." Some explain this shift of views, using the term "enlightened national interests."

The current financial crisis is a good case in point -- the situation calls for a coordinated response by the international community as a whole, as it has affected economies all across the world. We need to maintain close cooperation in managing the situation, so that the adverse effects of the financial crisis do not spill over into other areas of the economy.

Distinguished Guests,

Over the past 63 years, the United Nations has strived for international peace and security, development, and human rights. Since Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took office, the Member States and the Secretariat of the UN have further consolidated their efforts to address urgent matters, such as climate change, natural disasters, and the food crisis.

The High-level Meeting on Climate Change; the newly established Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Africa Steering Group; the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Summit on the food crisis; and emergency humanitarian assistance to China and Myanmar are just a few of the many examples. Notwithstanding numerous challenges facing it, the world body is growing stronger and multi-functional, as the demand for multilateral cooperation increases.

While Korea became an official member of the United Nations in 1991, the ties between Korea and the UN stretch back much further. In fact, the Republic of Korea was the first country to have the establishment of its government recognized by the UN through a General Assembly resolution back in 1948. During the past two decades since its admission, Korea has steadily expanded its areas of interest and presence in the UN. Among others, Korea served as a non-permanent member of the Security Council in 1996-97, and held the Presidency of the General Assembly in the aftermath of 9/11, leading a resolute international stance against terrorism. And, in 2006, Mr. Ban Ki-moon was elected as the 8th Secretary- General of the UN, whose five-year term started last year.

Against this background and under the current administration’s objective of "Contributing to the International Community," Korea places emphasis on strengthening Official Development Assistance (ODA) and participating in UN Peacekeeping Operations (PKOs). We believe that our own experiences of rebuilding the nation in the aftermath of a devastating war enable us to play a unique role in these areas.

The ODA of Korea has tripled since 2000, with assistance to Africa increasing three-fold in the last three years. Our ODA volume is expected to reach around 3.3 billion US dollars by 2015, the target year for the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In an effort to support the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in sub-Saharan Africa, we have introduced the air ticket solidarity levy as a new source of funding.

We are also increasing our humanitarian assistance in light of the global food crisis. We have pledged to offer 100 million US dollars over the next three years for emergency food aid and agricultural capacity-building in developing countries. In addition, to better coordinate our overall development cooperation policy with the global community, Korea plans to join the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in 2010.

In the area of UN Peacekeeping Operations, Korea’s first dispatch of troops to a PKO mission was in 1993 to Somalia. Since then, we have participated in 14 operations, the most recent one being the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), where we have a 359-strong contingent on duty. We hope to strengthen our participation in PKO, which plays an important role in the maintenance of international peace and security. To this end, the Korean government is considering a legislation that will facilitate the swift deployment of peacekeeping forces.

Climate change is another issue Korea is deeply committed to address. Our government has recently pronounced its vision of "Low Carbon, Green Growth." In support of the goal of the international community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050, Korea will announce next year, our voluntary mid-term goal set for the year 2020. We also plan to allocate 200 million US dollars over the next five years for the "East Asia Climate Partnership," which aims to formulate an East Asian response strategy to harmonize economic growth with climate change mitigation and adaptation.

We believe that in 2012, a new World Summit focusing on climate change and sustainable development should be held to ensure a strong takeoff for the Post-2012 Climate Regime. Given that the past three major conferences on the environment were held in Europe, America, and Africa respectively, it could well be Asia’s turn to host the next Conference. As a country well-placed to play a "bridging" role between developed and developing nations, Korea hopes to make further contributions by hosting this Conference.

Distinguished Guests,

Let me now briefly touch upon the North Korean nuclear issue and inter-Korean relations. A peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue is vital not only for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, but also for the nuclear non-proliferation efforts by the international community, including the United Nations.

The Six-Party Talks were temporarily stalled due to slow progress on the negotiations regarding verification and Pyongyang’s move to reverse the disablement process. But recently, as I am sure all of you are aware, an agreement has been reached over the verification issue, with the US removing North Korea from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism and North Korea resuming its disablement measures. We welcome these developments which have put the Six-Party Talks back on track.

We hope that the Six-Party Talks will resume at an early date to finalize the verification protocol and to hold discussions on completing the second phase of denuclearization. Throughout this process, we will continue to strive for the rigorous implementation of verification, and maintain close consultations with the other parties to the Talks.

We are firm in our stance that North Korean nuclear weapons cannot be tolerated. Meanwhile, we will continue to exercise patience in our steady diplomatic efforts to engage North Korea to become a responsible member of the international community. In this regard, we will continue to seek the cooperation and support of the global community.

On the issue of inter-Korean relations, my government has been pursuing a policy of "Mutual Benefits and Common Prosperity." As progress is made in denuclearization, we stand ready to support economic development in North Korea by providing comprehensive assistance measures in cooperation with the international community.

However, inter-Korean relations are currently in an impasse as a result of the North's refusal to resume dialogue. In order to break the deadlock, President Lee Myung-bak has called for the reopening of inter-Korean dialogue on several occasions. We sincerely hope that Pyongyang will respond positively to our calls for dialogue.

Distinguished Guests,

As I have explained, Korea wishes to contribute to the international community, playing a role commensurate with our national capacity. In this vein, we will make efforts to strengthen our multilateral diplomacy with the United Nations at the core. In doing so, it is important for the Korean government to have full support from organizations such as the UN Association of Korea. The UNA-Korea’s role is invaluable, particularly in enhancing public awareness on the importance of the United Nations and Korea’s contribution there.

It is my understanding that a triennial assembly of the World Federation of UN Associations (WFUNA) will be held in Korea in August next year. I am most confident that the UNA-Korea will successfully carry out this meaningful event and all other activities in the future. Allow me to wish everyone here all the best for your future success as well as your personal health and happiness.  Thank you.   /END/