Thank you, Mr. Chairman,

1. First of all, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the Secretary-General and 
all members of the Secretariat for their strenuous efforts to formulate the programme budget 
for the biennium 2008-2009. In addition, my delegation wishes to thank Mr. Rajat Saha, 
Chairman of the ACABQ, for introducing the analytical and informative report of the Advisory 
Committee.

2. As everyone realizes, a budget is more than a collection of numbers. A budget is a 
reflection of an organization’s priorities, needs, and commitments. Those who participate 
in the budget process must retain a balanced perspective between the needs and hopes 
of the beneficiaries and the fiscal burdens and domestic constraints of the payers. We have 
no doubt that members of the Secretariat do their best to produce a fairer and more efficient 
budget proposal than the previous ones.

Mr. Chairman,

3. My delegation notes with concern that the rate of increase of the biennium budget for 
2008-2009 after recosting and incorporating reform initiatives is likely to exceed 20% when 
compared to the initial amount of 3.8 billion dollars for the biennium budget of 2006-2007. 
Providing the Secretary-General with the financial means to fulfil the mandates set by the 
Member States is both a right and an inevitable obligation of Member States. However, 
given the astonishing growth of the peacekeeping budget, the overall assessment is 
becoming a serious burden on Member States. We therefore need to seek an appropriate 
and acceptable scale for the budget, as well as to enhance the productivity of budget 
expenditures.

4. As the ACABQ pointed out, we regret not seeing any dramatic change in the methodology 
of budget formulation. The Secretariat sustained a piecemeal and incremental approach as 
a basic tool for formulating the budget proposal for biennium 2008-2009. In the long run, this 
approach impairs budgetary discipline; it is one of the main factors that disables us from 
prioritizing budgetary programmes and removing redundant budget items from the overall 
proposal. My delegation is of the view that the Secretariat should make a greater effort to 
explore innovative ways to thoroughly justify budget expenditures.

5. In this regard, we hope that the mandate review process will put us on the right path. 
The mandate review is a powerful instrument for eliminating outdated or unnecessary 
items from our budgetary limits. However, the mandate review has not produced any 
meaningful outcome yet. If Member States cannot effectively do the mandate review, the 
only alternative way to ensure effective and timely implementation of urgent mandates 
such as the reform agenda is to allow the Secretary-General to prioritize and streamline 
its work program based on actual needs and priorities. If Member States are unable to 
proceed in this task in a serious way, while not allowing the Secretary-General to have 
authority to reallocate human resources based on needs, that would add up to a rapid 
growth in the U.N. budget to meet new global challenges, while underutilizing available 
human resources.

Mr. Chairman,

6. We are at present short of information on the outcome of budget expenditures, which 
prevents us from verifying the effectiveness of the contributions we have paid. We would 
be pleased to receive more detailed information on how well the budgetary project is being
 implemented, and to what extent planned goals are being achieved. There is an urgent need 
to enhance the effectiveness of budgetary programme evaluation and to strengthen 
feedback procedures accordingly, so that the evaluation can be taken into account in 
the process of determining appropriations.

7. The Korean government is a strong advocate of the reform initiatives entitled “A Stronger 
United Nations for a Better World” that the Secretary-General is pursuing, including 
strengthening the Department of Political affairs, reshuffling the Administration of Justice, 
and introducing Enterprise Resource Management. Since the reform agenda inevitably has 
financial implications, we look forward to seeing a careful cost-benefit analysis. However,
 we understand that a quantitative approach can not be applied to the entire reform agenda. 
Nevertheless, while reviewing its quantitative and qualitative effects, we can clarify our 
goals and targets by initiating reforms.

Mr. Chairman,

8. The budgeting structure of the United Nations is unique in that only the expenditure side
 is taken into account without attention paid to forecasting tax revenue. Under this structure, 
the concept of a fiscal deficit does not exist. This structure is therefore less susceptible 
to the rate of increase of budget expenditures than the usual national budget process. That 
being the case, a stronger trusteeship of the Secretariat, in particular of the Sectary-General, 
is required to address this structural weakness. We hope that the Secretary-General will 
pay more attention to removing hidden inefficiencies caused by overlapping responsibilities 
and duplication.

9. A collection of small savings can, in the aggregate, produce large effects. My delegation 
agrees with the ACABQ that there is room for cost-saving in the areas of travel, consultant 
hires, translations, publications, and so forth. At first glance, these may appear to be 
trivialities. However, such small efforts may keep the members of the United Nations 
system alert to larger ethical conflicts. I believe, in the long run, that what appear minor 
efforts can impact the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire budgeting system.

10. The best budget can be produced by a combination of an appropriate budget
 formulation methodology, the strong will of the budget proposal participants, and the 
effective management of the Secretary-General in terms of human and financial resources 
allocation. We should take a firm step forward towards this goal in the course of the 
present session.

Thank you.