By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
Prime Minister Han Seung-soo will leave for New York next week to attend the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Office of the Prime Minister said Tuesday.
Han is scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the session Sept. 23 at the U.N. headquarters, the office said in a press release.
In a keynote speech, the premier will deliver South Korea's position on global concerns, such as food shortage, climate change and human rights, as well as the North Korea nuclear issue and inter-Korean relations, it said.
Top of the agenda of this year's session is the global effort to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), a series of eight targets endorsed by all U.N. member states. Unveiled in 2000 to mark the new millennium, the goals include eradicating extreme poverty, ensuring education for all children, promoting gender equality, reducing infant mortality and ensuring environmental sustainability by 2015.
Han will also participate in high-level meetings on the environmental issues and poverty, according to the office.
In addition, Han will meet with his counterparts from U.N. member states, as well as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the incoming president of the General Assembly, Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann.
He is scheduled to meet with Korean residents in New York, and attend gatherings hosted by the Korea Society and the Asia Society. Han is also scheduled to have an interview with Fox News.