H.E. Ambassador Cho Tae-yul

Permanent Representative

Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council Reform

Fourth Meeting

1 May 2019

New York

Distinguished Co-Chairs,

I would also like to begin by thanking you for convening this fourth meeting of intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council Reform.

Throughout the meetings during this session, both of you have shown excellent leadership and wise stewardship, which I believe has contributed to reinforcing the membership’s trust in the IGN as the sole, legitimate forum to discuss the issue of Security Council Reform.  We have also seen the emergence of new ideas that we find very constructive and inspiring for our work, going forward. This has been possible thanks to your able guidance in moving this membership-driven process forward with a focus on further expanding additional areas of convergence.

While aligning myself with the statement made by the Permanent Representative of Italy on behalf of the Uniting for Consensus group, I would like to make some additional comments in my national capacity.

First, we cannot over-emphasize the importance of comprehensive and holistic approach to Security Council Reform that fully reflects the five core principles of the reform. It is for this reason that we welcome your proposal to focus on the inherent interlinkages among the five clusters at today’s meeting.

The paper on Revised Elements of Commonality and Issues for Further Consideration clearly stipulates that, “all five key issues are strongly interconnected and therefore negotiations should be based on the principle that ‘nothing is agreed until everything is agreed’.”

Some countries seem to be interested in a fast-track approach focused on a few selected issues only. It is simply unacceptable. We cannot afford to miss this once-in-a-generation opportunity to achieve a comprehensive reform of the Council through the IGN process.

Comprehensive reform is possible only when we incorporate all five key principles of reform. “More representative” means more inclusive, offering increased opportunities for all Member States, especially those from currently un-represented or under-represented regions, to serve in the Council. “More democratic” means that the Council members should be elected by the wider membership. “More accountable” means that the Council membership should be considered as a responsibility, not as a granted privilege, and that the members should be held to account for their performance. “More transparent” means improving the Council’s working methods in a way that doesn’t leave out any member. And lastly, “more effective” means expanding the Council to an adequate size, while minimizing the problems of stalemate and inaction that hinder the Council’s ability to fulfill its mandate.

Second, the UfC Group’s comprehensive proposal is an outcome of serious deliberations on the five core principles and the interlinkages between the five clusters.

During the previous IGN meetings, we have witnessed an overwhelming consensus among Member States that the exercise of veto power must be restricted, if not abolished entirely. The UfC’s proposal to add eleven non-permanent members with long-term, re-electable seats is a proposal that will minimize the negative impact of veto power, while maximizing regional representation simultaneously.  

The UfC proposal to increase non-permanent seats only is also important in view of the inherent interlinkages between the cluster of membership categories and the other four clusters. We are all in agreement on the need to expand the size of the Council to somewhere in the mid-20’s. This would increase the non-permanent to permanent ratio from current 2 to 1 to 4 to 1 approximately. However, if we also increase permanent seats as some members are arguing for, this ratio will decrease to less than 1.5 to 1. This will undoubtedly have a huge impact on the working methods of the Council as well as on the relationship between the Security Council and the General Assembly.

We must note, in this connection, that the name of the key issue here is regional representation, not national representation. Fairly allocating seats to different regions and providing all Member States a chance to be periodically elected enhances regional representation. In addition, the increase of non-permanent seats improves the relationship between the Security Council and the General Assembly by holding the Council members accountable to a wider membership through elections at the General Assembly.

To date, different groups have clarified their respective positions and requests. Unfortunately, however, we in the UfC Group have not seen any comprehensive reform proposal that considers the inherent interlinkages among the clusters, other than our own proposal.  And we have not yet heard any response to the fundamental questions asked by our distinguished colleagues from Pakistan and Turkey earlier this morning.

We look forward to more in-depth discussions on this important aspect of Security Council Reform tomorrow, the convergence on which will lay the solid foundation for making progress in the ongoing negotiations.

In this regard, we strongly support your plan to hold an informal retreat after the last and fifth IGN meeting of this session.  The retreat will serve as a useful opportunity for us to engage in more open and candid discussions with a view to making further progress on Security Council Reform.

The Republic of Korea, alongside the UfC Group, is committed to working with you, Co-Chairs, and other members and groups to identify further areas of convergence and make additional progress towards a comprehensive reform of the Security Council.

Thank you. /END/