Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the UN Park In-kook Elected as Chair of the Second Committee for the 64th Session of the UN General Assembly

The UN General Assembly held a plenary meeting on June 10 to elect the Bureau members and the Chairs of the six Main Committees for its 64th session scheduled to be held in September, and the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the UN Park In-kook was elected as Chair of the Second Committee.

Permanent Representative Park In-kook was nominated by the Asian Group as its candidate and elected by acclamation. The term of office of the Bureau members of the 64th session of the UN General Assembly is one year, beginning September 15, 2009 and expiring September 13, 2010.
 
The UN General Assembly consists of the Plenary and six Main Committees, and the Second Committee is in charge of economic, development, financial, and environmental issues. The importance of the
Committee continues to grow as energy and food crisis, financial crisis, response to climate change, and the achievement of MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) have recently emerged as major global issues.
 
During the 64th session of the General Assembly, the Second Committee will deal with important issues including efforts to tackle financial crisis, the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held in Copenhagen in December, 2009, the 2010 MDG Summit preparatory negotiations, the High-level Conference on South-South Cooperation, and reforms of the development-related UN system.

Permanent Representative Park‘s election is seen as a result of comprehensive consideration of the facts that Korea has shown forward-looking attitude in the climate change negotiations and green growth strategies, actively participated as a member of the G20 Troika in addressing the financial crisis, and strengthened its support for development through increasing ODA.

Permanent Representative Park’s election as Chair of the Second Committee is expected to help Korea broaden its diplomatic horizon and enhance its status in the UN by leading discussions on economic, development, and environmental issues within the UN General Assembly.