Remarks
by H.E. Cho Tae-yul
Vice Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea
at a Luncheon
on the occasion of the 69th United Nations Day

October 24, 2014

Ambassador Lee Ho-jin, Vice President of UNA Korea, Ambassador Park Soo-gil, President of WFUNA, Prime Minister Lee Hong-koo, Minister Yoo Chong-ha, Dr. Kim Hak-su, Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, Executive Secretary of ESCAP, Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me first congratulate you on the 69th United Nations Day. I would like to thank Ambassador Lee Ho-jin and his staff at the UN Association Korea for their hard work to organize this special event. I would also like to express my gratitude to Executive Secretary Ahktar for taking the time out of her busy schedule to join us today.

As you all know, next year marks the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the United Nations. Seventy years of age is often referred to as jongshim in Korea, which means that one is mature enough to follow the heart’s desire without transgressing the norm.

Regrettably, however, the face of today’s world that the 70-year old UN has been looking after is a far cry from what jongshim is supposed to mean and what was envisioned by the founders of the United Nations.

In particular, the horrors we are witnessing as conflicts rage on in Syria and Iraq, as well as the unprecedented spread of the Ebola virus are emerging as challenges posing a grave threat not only to the security and survival of a single nation, but to humanity as a whole. In order to address these new threats, I believe that the UN should retrace its steps back to the spirit of humanism.

As Pope Francis emphasized during his visit to Korea last August, “Our understanding of the common good, of progress and development must ultimately be in human terms and not merely economic terms.” This is also in line with what President Park Geun-hye mentioned in her keynote address at the 69th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York last September, “The need to push back against these harmful challenges to peace and development beckons us to return to the UN’s founding spirit of putting people first and promoting cooperation among the family of nations.”

The September UN General Assembly meeting was the first for President Park ever to attend since her inauguration and her address at the UN carries the following two key messages.

The first message is that the core values upheld by the UN--peace, human rights and development-- are exactly what Korea espouses as its own vision.

The history of the Republic of Korea is the very history of the UN. Had there been no help from the UN from the time of its foundation, to the Korean War, and in the post-War reconstruction process, the Republic of Korea as it stands today would not be existent. The Republic of Korea, the only country to have achieved both industrialization and democratization simultaneously, is a child that the UN has nurtured. Given that it has grown under the guidance and aspirations of the UN, the Republic of Korea should and will play a greater role in shaping the world into the one that the UN founders dreamed of.

The second message is that a unified Korea is what should be realized by working closely together with the UN.

The UN is a living witness of the division of the Korean Peninsula. It has always been at the heart of international efforts to resolve the conflicts transpiring on the Korean Peninsula, starting from the Korean War to the North Korean nuclear issue today. The Korean Peninsula issue is also intertwined with the key objectives of the UN -- peace, human rights and development. It was against this backdrop that in her address at the UN, President Park expressed anticipation that the UN will play a greater role in resolving the problems on the Korean Peninsula. After all, a peaceful unification of Korea will help to attain the goals and values of the UN.

Distinguished Guests,

Today’s event reminds me of the three scenes at the UN General Assembly meeting of last September that carried special meaning to all Koreans.

The first scene was captured in a snapshot of President Park Geun-hye, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim taken together.

In the thematic session on climate financing at the UN Climate Summit which was convened to address the common challenge of humanity, the three leaders of Korean origin sat together on the podium. President Park was there to co-chair the session, while the other two leaders to deliver their speeches as the heads of the UN and the World Bank, respectively.

The second scene was the UN Security Council summit meeting in which President Park participated and spoke for the first time as a Korean president.

At the Security Council meeting chaired by President Obama, President Park discussed international security issues side-by-side with the leaders of other major countries. When the Security Council meeting was convened on June 25, 1950 to decide on the fate of Korea, there was no nameplate for us in the room. Sixty four years later, a Korean President was speaking in the very meeting of the Security Council as its elected member.

The third scene was the MIKTA Foreign Ministers’ Meeting that was chaired by Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se.

MIKTA is a group of like-minded middle or pivotal powers that was established under Korea’s initiative in September last year on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly together with Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey and Australia. And a year later, Korea’s Foreign Minister in his capacity as MIKTA’s coordinator was presiding over the discussions on major global issues such as the conflicts unfolding in Iraq and Syria and the Ebola outbreak.

These three scenes provide an eloquent testimony to the transformation of Korea’s global standing. Moreover, only two decades after being formally admitted to the UN, Korea has now become an active member of the UN’s three major councils -- Security Council, Human Rights Council and Economic and Social Council. On top of this, at present, the Secretary-General of the UN is Korean. It would, therefore, be no exaggeration to say that Korea’s multilateral diplomacy is now enjoying its golden era.

I am wondering, however, whether we have the full capacity to pursue multilateral diplomacy that befits a country of our stature. Are we not neglecting the role that the international community expects from us while we are too engrossed in bilateral issues with big powers? Are we not idling away the valuable assets we possess and can effectively use for our multilateral diplomacy?

In my view, we need to create more added value in our multilateral diplomacy by drawing upon our unique experiences in political and economic development and fully taking advantage of our status as a trusted middle power. And to this end, the focus should be placed on the following three roles.

First, the role of facilitator.

Korea is the only country which has transformed itself from an aid recipient into a full-fledged donor country in a span of only half a century. For this reason, the international community has high regard and expectations towards us, which we should fully utilize as valuable asset. In international discourse on all the global issues, therefore, we need to play a more active role as a bridge in facilitating the communication between developed and developing countries, and seeking a reasonable compromise that strikes a balance between the conflicting interests of both sides.

Second, the role of supporter.

More than anyone else, we understand and sympathize with the pains and difficulties that developing countries need to undergo on the path towards economic development and political democratization. We learned, from our own experiences, what are the major constraints and bottlenecks, and what it takes to overcome the challenges lying in the quest for a developing country to join the ranks of developed countries. Such knowledge is an asset unique to Korea that cannot be easily emulated by any other country. Therefore, we need to look at the global issues through the lens of our development experiences, seek out a value-adding role that only Korea can play, and make proactive contributions to promoting the common good of the global community. In particular, when reaching out to developing countries, we should remain humble and show respect and empathy, while helping them resolve their problems and stand on their own. This in turn will help to win their hearts and minds.

Third, the role of initiator.

Korea is now on the verge of becoming a developed country having overcome the constraints of a developing country. Therefore, Korea is better poised to have a balanced perspective on global problems and ways to resolve them. This is probably the reason why we often feel that other countries are more attentive to our words and actions compared to the past. Based on this trust, we should seek a more proactive role in mapping out new agenda to promote global public goods and in creating international norms.

The 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit and the 2013 Seoul Cyberspace Conference are cases of Korea, as a middle power, making visible contributions to global issues that are in a nascent stage of norm-setting or awareness-raising. The Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) and the World Education Forum (WEF) that we will host in 2015 are further opportunities for Korea to make meaningful steps forward to play a greater role as an agenda-setter.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shared this vision of multilateral diplomacy with our overseas missions. And today each mission is implementing its concrete action plan to engage in more active multilateral diplomacy. Instructions were given not only to our missions engaging in multilateral diplomacy, but also to the embassies dealing with bilateral issues to be more creative and proactive in multilateral diplomacy. In particular, our embassies abroad were instructed to seek a contributing role on the multilateral issues that the host government attaches an importance to and actively engage with international organizations or their regional offices hosted by the countries they are accredited to.

We will periodically review the progress made by each mission so that our multilateral diplomacy, armed with a new vision and action plan, can become more visible and relevant in the global scene. I am confident that these small yet meaningful changes will accumulate and bring about a greater change in our multilateral diplomacy in the not- too-distant future.

Distinguished Guests,

As Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon frequently points out, the global community is confronted with “an oversupply of problems and a deficit of solutions.” To resolve this problem, a robust multilateral cooperation and partnership is needed more than ever before.

Korea will actively participate in international efforts to resolve global issues and make its own contribution by playing the three roles I have just elaborated on -- the roles of facilitator, supporter and initiator -- in a creative and strategic manner.

At the end of this year, Korea’s non-permanent membership of the Security Council comes to an end. But we will continue to play our due role in enhancing the quality of life of mankind with a sense of responsibility, as President of ECOSOC, Executive Board of UNHCR, UNCITRAL, and State Parties of the Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) as well as member of Human Rights Council and the Peace Building Commission (PBC), etc.

By building a multi-layered web and broad partnership with like-minded countries, Korea is also committed to walking on a difficult yet meaningful path together with the UN as its indispensable partner to build a happy global village. As we walk this road, I am confident that you will remain a strong supporter and reliable partner as ever. Thank you. /END/