South Korea, 2008

I would like to

extend my congratulations to His Excellency

Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann on his election to the

presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-third

session. I also wish to express my deep appreciation to

His Excellency Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his

dedication to having the United Nations meet global

challenges in a more effective and timely manner. I

assure them of the Republic of Korea’s full support for

their noble endeavours.

As I stand here, I recall those turbulent days

seven years ago when we stood shaken by the terrorist

acts in the morning of 11 September 2001. Throughout

my presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty-

sixth session, all Member States were united in dealing

with the grave challenges in the shadow of 9/11.

On 12 September 2001, this Assembly began its

fifty-sixth session by adopting resolution 56/1, strongly

condemning the terrorist acts and calling for a

concerted effort by the international community to

combat terrorism. With the close cooperation that

followed, counter-terrorist capacity has been

strengthened at all levels.

Nevertheless, as we are witnessing in many parts

of the world today, terrorism continues to threaten and

take the lives of innocent people. As the international

community shares the concern over such an intractable

trend, it is time for us to renew our commitment to

completely root out terrorism in all its forms and

manifestations.

This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the

founding of the Republic of Korea. The Republic of

Korea was the first country to have the establishment

of its Government recognized by the United Nations

08-51851 32

through a General Assembly resolution, back in

December 1948. Thanks to the Assembly’s continuous

support, the Republic of Korea was able to step into the

twenty-first century as a full-fledged democracy and

vibrant economy. It is my sincere hope that this special

relationship will further develop and strengthen in the

years to come.

Over the past six decades, the United Nations has

strived for the common good of the international

community and has become ever more relevant to the

well-being of the present and future generations of

humankind. It is currently leading the global efforts to

achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

and is demonstrating strong stewardship in addressing

the global food and energy crises, as well as climate

change.

Standing at the midpoint to the MDG target year

of 2015, we realize that, in order to achieve what we

pledged, all Member States will have to redouble their

commitments to the MDGs. But political commitment

alone is not enough. We need solid economic growth

and a coherent strategy to translate our commitment

into reality.

While the rapid growth experiences of Korea and

other countries have served as a useful reference for

many developing countries, we should move beyond

the conventional economic growth approach of “grow

first, clean up later”. Rather, what we need is green and

pro-poor growth.

Climate change, on which the future of humanity

so critically depends, is now looming larger than ever

as a global challenge. Adverse impacts of climate

change are threatening the very foundation of the

MDGs, inter alia, by affecting agriculture, upon which

the livelihood of many in the developing world

depends, and by increasing climate-related natural

disasters, which are hitting hard the most vulnerable

bottom billion, as in the case of Typhoon Nargis.

The conventional growth approach based on

cheap fossil fuel is among the factors driving up the

prices of oil and food. As such, we need a new climate-

friendly strategy for energy and development if we are

to attain the goals of the MDGs while addressing

climate change. I encourage all agencies of the United

Nations to closely cooperate to develop a new road

map. In that regard, I would like to express my full

support for the energetic leadership of Secretary-

General Ban Ki-moon, who has been working hard to

place climate change as our top priority on the global

agenda.

The Republic of Korea recently embraced a low-

carbon, green growth paradigm. We strongly believe

that that is and should be the new paradigm for growth

and development of the world in the future. We support

the global vision of reducing greenhouse gas emissions

by 50 per cent by 2050 and plan to announce next year

our voluntary midterm mitigation goal set for the year

2020. We will also launch the East Asia Climate

Partnership, which will initiate programmes in the

amount of $200 million over the next five years to

support other countries in making their economic

growth compatible with climate change concerns.

In 2002, I attended the World Summit on

Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg, in my

capacity as President of the General Assembly.

Through that and other experiences, I have come to

firmly believe in the importance of high-level

commitments to strengthening our efforts and political

momentum on issues concerning the environment and

development. In that vein, I would like to emphasize

that a new world summit focusing on climate change

and sustainable development needs to be held in 2012,

not least to ensure a strong take-off for a post-2012

climate regime.

Given that the past three conferences were held in

Europe, America and Africa respectively, it could well

be Asia’s turn to host the next. Asia is the most

populous region in the world and is undergoing vibrant

economic transformation, which makes the sustainable

development issue all the more relevant. As a country

well-placed to play a bridging role between developed

and developing nations, the Republic of Korea hopes to

make a contribution by hosting that conference.

The global food crisis is another factor

contributing to instability by increasing the population

affected by poverty and starvation. It is also

threatening to reverse many of the gains we have

achieved thus far in the development field. As the

causes behind the current food crisis are complex and

varied, our responses must be comprehensive as well

as timely.

The Republic of Korea has provided

humanitarian assistance to countries facing food crises.

I am pleased to inform the Assembly that the Republic

of Korea, in addition to its assistance to the Democratic

People’s Republic of Korea, has decided to offer

33 08-51851

$100 million over the next three years for emergency

food aid and for assistance to strengthen the

agricultural capacities of developing countries. With

first-hand knowledge in agricultural development,

Korea plans to assist in various areas, including

farming infrastructure, technology and policymaking.

This year also marks the sixtieth anniversary of

the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights. Over the decades, the United Nations has

played an indispensable role in setting international

norms and principles to ensure all human rights for all.

This year saw further progress, with the

implementation of the Universal Periodic Review by

the Human Rights Council and with the Convention on

the Rights of Persons with Disabilities taking effect. At

the same time, we need to redouble efforts to stem the

serious human rights violations that still continue in

certain regions. The Republic of Korea urges those

human rights violators to urgently respond to the

international community’s call for dialogue and

cooperation and to follow up with appropriate

measures to enhance human rights.

In the area of United Nations reform, it is more

crucial now than ever that the United Nations operate

efficiently, effectively and responsively. The Republic

of Korea supports all efforts, in particular the

initiatives taken by the Secretary-General, to make the

Secretariat more accountable, efficient and responsive.

As for the Security Council, in order for it to

better fulfil its mandate of maintaining international

peace and security, it needs to be reformed to ensure

that it is more representative, accountable and efficient.

Moreover, considering the importance of the Security

Council, every effort should be made to acquire a

general agreement among all Member States in steering

the direction of the reform. It should be not an issue of

division, but one that unites Member States.

The new Government of the Republic of Korea

has posited contributing to the international community

as a trusted partner as one of the pillars of its foreign

policy. To that end, we are strengthening our role in

official development assistance and peacekeeping

operations.

Since 2000, our official development assistance

has increased three times in volume, with assistance to

Africa increasing threefold in the past three years. We

plan to triple our current official development

assistance to reach over $3 billion by 2015. To better

coordinate our development cooperation policy with

the international community, the Republic of Korea

plans to join the Development Assistance Committee of

the Organization for Economic Cooperation and

Development in 2010.

The Republic of Korea is also seeking ways to

strengthen its participation in United Nations

peacekeeping operations. Currently, we have a 350-

strong contingent dispatched to the United Nations

Interim Force in Lebanon and are considering

legislation to facilitate our participation in

peacekeeping operations.

The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction

and their delivery systems poses a grave threat to

international peace and security. We must strengthen

the disarmament and non-proliferation regimes,

including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons (NPT). In that regard, it is crucial

that the North Korean nuclear issue be expeditiously

resolved. That issue has remained for many years a

threat to the security of North-East Asia while

seriously undermining the very foundations of the NPT

regime.

The Republic of Korea is making every effort to

resolve the North Korean nuclear issue within the

framework of the Six-Party Talks, under which some

progress has been made. However, Pyongyang’s recent

move to suspend the disablement measures and attempt

to reverse the process is highly regrettable. We urge the

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to resume

disablement measures immediately so that the positive

momentum generated by the Six-Party Talks process

can be maintained and the denuclearization process can

move forward.

With a view to developing more mature

inter-Korean relations in a pragmatic and productive

way, the Republic of Korea pursues a policy of mutual

benefits and common prosperity. As progress is made

in denuclearization, we stand ready to support

economic development in the North. We are also

willing to hold discussions with Pyongyang on how to

implement properly all past inter-Korean agreements,

including the Basic Agreement of 1992. President Lee

Myung-bak, in his speech to the National Assembly in

July, proposed to fully restore inter-Korean dialogue

and emphasized that we are ready to render our

cooperation to alleviate the food crisis in the

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. We look

08-51851 34

forward to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

accepting the offer for dialogue so that real progress

can be made in inter-Korean relations.

Eventually, I believe that we will see more peace

and prosperity in North-East Asia. The region is

already a major powerhouse for economic growth in

the world. With the peaceful resolution of the North

Korean nuclear issue, countries in the region will be

able to accelerate cooperation to make North-East Asia

more stable and future-oriented. Undoubtedly, that will

in turn contribute greatly to the peace and prosperity of

the world.

Currently, the international community is

grappling with the grave financial turmoil that

threatens to spread worldwide. It has even been feared

that the turmoil could lead to a recession of the

magnitude of the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Without a doubt, the current instability in the financial

market could have a devastating, domino-like impact

on the real economy of this globalized world.

We have to be careful, however, not to rush into

protectionist policies either for fear of uncertainty or

out of self-interest. There are hard-learned lessons

from the Depression of the 1930s: the “beggar thy

neighbour” policy and the policy of raising tariffs to

protect particular industries harmed the world

economy. Therefore, I strongly believe that any

solution should be based on an even closer cooperation

within the international community and the open

market economy.

Today, the expectations placed upon the United

Nations by the international community are higher than

ever. However, what the United Nations can achieve

cannot be greater than the sum of all our individual

achievements unless there are synergistic effects.

Therefore, all of us, each and every Member State,

should not only do our best in carrying out our

responsibilities, but should also be willing to help and

reach out to others. Only by doing so can this global

body live up to and even exceed the expectations of the

international community. To that end, the Republic of

Korea will faithfully do its part.