H.E. Ambassador Shin Kak-soo, Deputy Permanent Representative, at Informal Meeting of the Plenary of the General Assembly
Mr. President,
1. We steadfastly support reform of the United Nations to make the Organization stronger. We would like to point out, however, that reform is not a static or one-time exercise, but rather an evolving process in response to changing circumstances and developments in the international community. The current text on strengthening the UN should be modified to reflect the ongoing nature of reform.
2. With regard to the formulation on the status of the General Assembly in paragraph 121, we prefer the language that we agreed in the Millennium Declaration. The General Assembly should be characterized as the “most representative and chief deliberative, policymaking and decision-making organ of the United Nations.”
3. The position of the Republic of Korea on Security Council reform is well-known, so I will not repeat it. However, we would like paragraph 126 to reflect the view that the Security Council must be made not only more representative, efficient and transparent, but also more accountable and democratic. The amended text would read: “We support comprehensive reform of the Security Council to make it more broadly representative, efficient, transparent, accountable and democratic so as to enhance the legitimacy of its decisions and its effectiveness”.
4. As for the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), we are generally supportive of giving it a stronger role and greater authority, as called for in paragraph 128. We also appreciate the emphasis in paragraph 128, subparagraph 5 on the role of ECOSOC in peacebuilding. However, we will reserve our endorsement of a pilot process of voluntary peer reviews, as proposed in paragraph 128, subparagraph 4, until a consensus on this issue is reached among member states.
5. We support overall the recommendations to make the Secretariat more accountable and effective. We have also pointed out the need to strengthen independent oversight. This should include oversight mechanisms within the Secretariat, external to the Secretariat but within the UN system, and external to the UN family as a whole.
Thank you.