South Korea, 1998

On behalf of the

delegation of the Republic of Korea, I sincerely

congratulate Mr. Didier Opertti on his election to the

presidency of this session of the General Assembly. We are

fully confident that the Assembly will reap fruitful results

under his distinguished leadership. I would also like to pay

tribute to his predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Hennadiy Y.

Udovenko, and to the Secretary-General, His Excellency

Mr. Kofi Annan.

I would like to discuss today our common future and

the various efforts that we will need to consider to ensure

its betterment. With the new millennium just around the

corner, we must contemplate the possibilities for our future

world. With confidence and pride, we can look back over

the past five decades and note with appreciation the

tremendous contributions the United Nations has made

towards international peace and prosperity. We must also

note that today the United Nations is confronted with

enormous challenges and opportunities. The identification

of these challenges, both within the United Nations itself

and in the world with which the United Nations must

engage, is where our discussion must begin.

As a world community, we face trends and challenges

that test our wisdom and courage. Before I discuss our

common efforts, I would like to begin by addressing how

we are now handling our own concerns in Korea. Last

February, the Republic of Korea inaugurated the

Government of President Kim Dae-jung. This Government

carries special significance for the Korean people because

it marks the first time an opposition party has acceded to

power in the 50-year constitutional history of Korea.

The Republic of Korea is one of the countries that

gained independence during the last half-century; it has

subsequently developed into a liberal democracy within a

relatively short period of time. Poverty-stricken and war-

torn only 50 years ago, the Republic of Korea has now

grown to be a middle-power State.

My country is currently endeavouring to overcome

enormous economic difficulties and to ensure the parallel

and harmonious development of democracy and free

market economy. We are well aware that the world is

watching to see if and how we can accomplish such a

difficult task. On 15 August 1998, on the fiftieth

anniversary of the Government of the Republic of Korea,

President Kim Dae Jung proclaimed the launching of our

“Second Nation Building” to define the nation?s efforts to

overcome the current crisis and to foster Korea?s

democracy and market economy to greater maturity.

Our immediate concerns, however, are not only

economic. The new Government of the Republic of Korea

formulated the “Sunshine Policy”, a policy of constructive

engagement, as the cornerstone of its stance towards

North Korea. Division, war and confrontation have more

often than not characterized inter-Korean relations.

Changing the nature of this relationship requires the

restoration and cultivation of mutual trust between the

two parties. To achieve these goals, President Kim

announced the following three principles immediately

after his inauguration: no tolerance of any military

provocation by North Korea; no attempts on our part to

absorb the North; and the active promotion of inter-

Korean reconciliation, exchange and cooperation.

In line with these principles, my Government is

encouraging private sector initiatives to pursue exchanges

and cooperation with the North at their own discretion,

while maintaining the principle of reciprocity at the

governmental level. The Republic of Korea will remain

committed to actively responding to the appeals of the

United Nations and other international organizations to

assist North Korea to overcome its food shortages and

economic difficulties. We believe that inter-Korean

consultations are indispensable for North Korea?s

economic recovery. In this regard, we also look forward

to the role of the United Nations system as a facilitator of

this process.

In his August speech, President Kim Dae Jung

further proposed the establishment of a permanent inter-

Korean dialogue arrangement headed by ministerial or

vice-ministerial officials, in the hope of opening a new

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era of reconciliation and cooperation between the two

Koreas. He also made it clear that the Republic of Korea is

willing to send an envoy to Pyongyang to discuss this

proposal. The main thrust of President Kim?s engagement

policy is to establish a workable system of peaceful

coexistence based on reconciliation and mutual trust.

The Democratic People?s Republic of Korea reacted

passively or even negatively to these proposals. It provoked

the Republic of Korea by infiltrating a submarine into

South Korean territorial waters in June, and again in late

August by launching a rocket into the western Pacific

Ocean without any prior warning. My Government deplores

these acts of provocation. They pose a serious threat to our

security. But despite these acts of provocation, my

Government continues to uphold the keynote of its

engagement policy so that the two Koreas might come to

enjoy the benefits of peaceful coexistence.

My Government hopes that the leadership of the

Democratic People?s Republic of Korea will put aside its

defiance and respond positively to our calls for dialogue

and collaboration. We would like to revitalize and

implement the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement of 1992

through South-North dialogue. My Government will try to

ease tension and create a peaceful environment on the

Korean Peninsula through the four-party talks process. I

wish to reiterate that our immediate objective is, first and

foremost, peaceful coexistence. We hope that the

Democratic People?s Republic of Korea will respond with

an equal display of sincerity and good faith to our policies

of accommodation.

I would now like to share some thoughts with you on

the current global economic situation. In the past decade,

we have witnessed deepening interdependence among

countries in the accelerated, market-driven process of

globalization. However, contrary to earlier expectations that

the globalization process would stimulate world economic

growth and reduce the gap between developed and

developing countries, the international community is now

baffled by the negative repercussions of rapid globalization.

Asian countries, which have long been a model of

economic development, are now struggling with serious

financial crises. Other countries are also suffering economic

unrest, and together these may lead to global economic

turmoil.

The international community, amid sudden and

unexpected economic turbulences, would be well advised to

develop a common strategy to maximize potential economic

benefits of market liberalization and globalization. Towards

this end, my Government welcomes the United Nations

initiative to strengthen its dialogue and cooperation with

the Bretton Woods system. The United Nations is

expected to play a more active role in addressing diverse

problems arising from the globalization process.

Among the various factors that triggered our own

domestic economic difficulties was a loose application of

the rule of accountability in the corporate and financial

sector. My Government is trying to turn the current

financial crisis into an opportunity to reform and

revitalize its economy. We are taking bold and decisive

steps towards a comprehensive structural reform based on

democracy and market principles. This structural reform

is intended to ensure deregulation of economic activities,

transparency and accountability in the financial and

corporate sector, and mobility in the labour market. When

the ongoing structural reform is successfully completed,

the Republic of Korea will be a more free and more open

society, contributing to the resurgence of economic

dynamism in the Asian region. This is the goal of our

structural reform.

In spite of overall growth in the world economy, the

least developed countries continue to be marginalized and

still do not receive their fair share of the benefits of that

general trend. As a community, we should pay more

attention to the deteriorating situation in these

marginalized countries and should strengthen economic

and development cooperation for their sustainable growth.

For this purpose, my Government supports the

development of the least developed countries through the

Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and

cooperates with United Nations regional economic

commissions, such as the Economic and Social

Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the

Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Even with the

current financial crisis, the Republic of Korea continues

to play its due role in development cooperation, with

KOICA as its focal point.

While contributing to the strengthening of

multilateral cooperation, we are also participating in

regional cooperation efforts aimed at stimulating and

sustaining steady regional growth and balanced

development for the Asia-Pacific region. We are

contributing to regional liberalization of trade and

investment through active involvement in the Asia-Pacific

Economic Cooperation Council (APEC). In addition, my

Government is scheduled to host the third summit of the

Asia-Europe Meeting in the year 2000. We will do our

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best to make the summit a milestone in building a

comprehensive partnership between Asia and Europe.

Beyond these immediate concerns for economic

revitalization in Korea and the world community in general,

we are faced with another long-term challenge, that of

environmental protection. Climate changes, for instance,

demand urgent attention and concrete actions by all

countries. Last year, we made historic progress in

combating global warming by adopting the Kyoto Protocol.

I am pleased to say that my Government will accede to the

Kyoto Protocol this afternoon.

I should like to take this opportunity to say a few

words about the International Vaccine Institute (IVI). My

Government has hosted IVI as a part of its commitment to

international efforts to prevent childhood diseases,

especially those in developing countries. Thirty-two

Governments and the World Health Organization (WHO)

have signed the Establishment Agreement of IVI, aimed at

developing and distributing non-commercial vaccines.

Yesterday in New York, the Government of the Republic

of Korea and IVI signed the Headquarters Agreement. I

look forward to more active support and to the substantial

participation of Member States in this worthy project.

Fifty years after the adoption of the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights, and despite strenuous efforts

by the United Nations and human rights defenders, we are

still witnessing, to our dismay, serious human rights

violations and blatant challenges to United Nations human

rights mechanisms throughout the world. Notwithstanding

these grim realities, I am convinced that history is moving

towards universal respect for human rights and dignity. In

this context, my Government fully supports the Secretary-

General?s initiative to mainstream human rights in all of the

United Nations activities and programmes. As an initiative

to bolster national human rights safeguard mechanisms, my

Government has begun preparations for enacting a

comprehensive human rights act and establishing a national

human rights institution.

My Government welcomes the adoption of the Statute

of the International Criminal Court in Rome last July. We

are confident that the establishment of the Court will be a

landmark in strengthening the international legal system.

We earnestly hope that the Court will be launched as soon

as possible.

In the rapidly changing international security

environment of the post-cold-war era, the United Nations is

now faced with new challenges arising from the

proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their

means of delivery. We deeply regret the recent nuclear

tests carried out by India and then Pakistan. These tests

seriously undermine the nuclear non-proliferation regime.

We call upon the States concerned to desist from further

nuclear testing and weaponization, and to accede to the

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

(NPT) and to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

(CTBT) without delay. We also urge the international

community to maintain vigilance to prevent the transfer

of their nuclear weapons-related materials, equipment and

technology to third countries.

In this context, we believe that the early entry into

force and the securing of the universality of the CTBT

should be a high priority of the disarmament agenda. My

Government is proceeding with its domestic procedures

for the ratification of the CTBT next year. At the same

time, we welcome the decision made at the Conference

on Disarmament in Geneva last month to establish an ad

hoc committee on the Fissile Material Cut-off

Convention. We also call upon all nuclear-weapon States

faithfully to comply with their obligations to undertake

nuclear disarmament pursuant to article VI of the NPT.

We stress once again that the Democratic People?s

Republic of Korea, as a State party to the NPT, should

fully comply with the International Atomic Energy

Agency (IAEA) safeguards agreement. It should also

carry out its obligations to freeze its nuclear activities and

eventually dismantle the related facilities in accordance

with the Geneva Agreed Framework. In particular, it

should cooperate closely with the IAEA in preserving

necessary information related to its past nuclear activities.

Furthermore, we urge the Democratic People?s Republic

of Korea to demonstrate its sincerity in upholding the

Agreed Framework by guaranteeing full transparency with

regard to the recently discovered underground facilities

near Yongbyon.

For its part, my Government will make continued

efforts, together with the United States, Japan and other

parties concerned, for smooth progress in the Korean

Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO)

project, pursuant to the Agreed Framework. As the KEDO

project contributes to the peace and security of the region,

we look forward to continued political and financial

support from the international community. We also

believe that both Koreas should renew their efforts to

implement the Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization

of the Korean Peninsula of 1992.

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My Government shares the grave concern of the

international community over the launching of the rocket-

propelled object by the Democratic People?s Republic of

Korea on 31 August. The Democratic People?s Republic of

Korea?s ability to develop delivery means of weapons of

mass destruction poses a serious threat to peace and

security on the Korean Peninsula and in North-East Asia.

The international community should make concerted efforts

to induce the Democratic People?s Republic of Korea to

refrain from conducting further missile development, testing

and exporting.

Chemical and biological weapons are another category

of weapons of mass destruction that requires our serious

attention. We commend the valuable achievements of the

Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons over

the last year and a half. Regrettably, a number of countries

presumed to possess chemical weapons, including the

Democratic People?s Republic of Korea, have not yet

acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention. We urge

those States to do so without delay. My delegation also

hopes for an early adoption of the Verification Protocol to

the Biological Weapons Convention.

In recent years, we have seen the United Nations

peacekeeping operations expand their activities to such

areas as repatriation of refugees, demilitarization and

disbanding of armies, and the policing and monitoring of

elections. While this trend can be viewed positively, my

delegation is deeply concerned about the increasing number

of victims among civilian volunteers and United Nations

personnel. The Republic of Korea, while serving as a

member of the Security Council last year, initiated a

Council open debate on protection for humanitarian

assistance to refugees in conflict situations, which led to the

adoption of a presidential statement. We hope that the

Secretary-General?s report on this topic, released this week,

will renew the international community?s awareness of this

issue and lead to concrete follow-up measures.

My delegation is deeply disturbed by the recent

increase in brutal international terrorist activities. The

Republic of Korea will not tolerate any acts of terrorism,

and urges all Member States to cooperate in devising

effective international measures to combat terrorism.

On the threshold of the new millennium, the

international community is encountering an increasingly

complex set of challenges to peace and security. At this

critical juncture, the Security Council needs to reform itself

to adapt to the drastically changed international

environment.

The Republic of Korea fully supports an expanded,

more representative and democratic Security Council.

However, no Security Council reform package will be

feasible without universal support among Member States.

In this regard, we hope that the Council reform package

will be worked out on the broadest consensus possible,

far exceeding the mandatory endorsement by two thirds

of the members of the General Assembly. In this context,

we note with appreciation the efforts of the Working

Group on Security Council reform to seek a realistic and

practical solution which should enjoy general agreement

among Member States.

My delegation welcomes the reform efforts that

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has made since taking

office. The Republic of Korea has consistently supported

the Secretary-General?s reform initiatives and will

continue to do so in our common efforts to revitalize the

Organization in the years ahead. We hope that the

Millennium Assembly, to be held in the year 2000, will

serve as an opportunity to crystallize the visions and

strategies needed to meet the challenges of the twenty-

first century.

We look forward to the twenty-first century with

great expectations. The time ahead of us will undoubtedly

pose daunting challenges. Of this, I am certain. But it also

promises a bright future if we, together, can successfully

rise to the occasion. The United Nations is a tool and a

forum; it is a symbol — the best that we have — of our

joint commitment to making the next century more

secure, more humane and more hopeful than the last one.

The Republic of Korea, together with other Member

States, stands ready to make its due contributions towards

these lofty goals.