1. On May 19, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se met with Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Anthony Lake, who is visiting the Republic of Korea to attend the World Education Forum 2015. The two sides exchanged views on a range of issues, including the overall cooperative relationship between the ROK and UNICEF, the importance of investing in and educating children, and humanitarian assistance projects in North Korea.

2. Minister Yun stated that the ROK had been a UNICEF aid recipient until 1993, but has emerged as a donor and that the ROK, serving on the UNICEF Executive Board for the fifth time, is actively participating in UNICEF’s efforts to protect children and vulnerable groups. Minister Yun expressed the ROK’s willingness to continue to further strengthen such efforts.

o On the importance of investing in and educating children, Minister Yun shared the experience of the ROK, which has risen from the ashes of war through investment in human resources. He said that investing in and educating children was the key to economic, social and individual growth.

3. Furthermore, taking note that UNICEF is actively engaged in humanitarian assistance projects in North Korea, Minister Yun said that the ROK is taking an approach of delinking security issues from humanitarian issues. Minister Yun added that as the ROK is placing an importance on humanitarian aid projects in North Korea in order to lay the foundation for peaceful unification on the Korean Peninsula, the ROK will support UNICEF’s projects for North Korean children to make them successful.

4. The two sides agreed to continue to work together to strengthen the ROK-UNICEF cooperation aimed at improving the rights of children around the world.

o Executive Director Anthony Lake thanked the ROK for tripling its contribution to UNICEF since he took office in 2010. In response, Minister Yun stated that the ROK government is well aware of the great importance of investing in and protecting children from its development experience and thus has expanded its support to UNICEF. He explained that the private sector, mainly the Korean Committee for UNICEF, is also providing a significant amount of financial support.


*unofficial translation