By Chung Min-uck
Prospects are high for South Korea to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) beginning 2013, according to foreign ministry officials, Wednesday.
“Seoul has already gained support from many member states and is getting closer to the minimum of 129 votes that are needed to be elected as a non-permanent member of the UNSC,” said a ministry official. “We are making a final push in our campaign for the seat.”
In order to become a UNSC member, a candidate nation must receive two-thirds of the votes from 193 members of the U.N. General Assembly. A vote is slated for mid-October to select non-permanent UNSC members that will serve from January 2013 to December 2014.
Seoul is competing with two countries, Cambodia and Bhutan, for one seat reserved for Asia-Pacific nations replacing India whose two-year term ends in 2012.
South Korea occupied one of the 10 non-permanent seats from 1996 to 1997.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM), in a rare move, offered its official support to South Korea in seeking the non-permanent seat during a visit to Seoul last week. Out of 15 CARICOM nations, 14 of them are U.N. members.
“The competition is fierce however,” the official added.
Another foreign ministry official said it is too early to be thinking positive as Cambodia is saying that it has gained the upper hand against rival nations competing for the seat. Members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) reportedly back Cambodia.
Estimation is even harder since nearly half of the promises for support for a particular nation never materialize in actual voting, experts say.
As the competition nears a conclusion, Seoul is exerting final efforts by sending envoys to regions where the country doesn’t have overseas missions and dispatching diplomats to actively participate in multilateral conventions appealing for support.
If elected, it is expected to help South Korea to effectively deal with North Korea’s provocations and increase its role in maintaining peace and security on the international stage.
The UNSC is the only institution that has the authority to make legally binding decisions on international sanctions and authorizing military action by the world body. The council determines deployment of peacekeeping operations.
“It is more effective to take part in the UNSC discussions to let our voice be heard than appeal from outside the council,” said the ministry official. “Thus, it’s important for us to be a UNSC member in dealing with the North Korean issue.”
Tension still lingers on the Korean Peninsula following Pyongyang’s failed rocket launch in April and two deadly attacks on South Korea in 2010 _ the sinking of the Navy ship Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.
Upon the sinking of the South Korean navy ship, the 15-member UNSC chose to adopt a non-binding Presidential Statement instead of a Resolution due to veto-wielding permanent UNSC member China’s resistance.
There are five permanent members in the UNSC _ the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom and France.
A UNSC Resolution needs a unanimous agreement by the permanent members to be adopted.