Experts skeptical about power of S. Korea's UNSC seat to rein in N. Korea

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Fri, December 8, 2023 | 22:40

Foreign Affairs

Experts skeptical about effectiveness of S. Korea's UNSC seat to rein in NK

Posted : 2023-06-07 17:02

Updated : 2023-06-08 10:24

The U.N. General Assembly opens at the U.N. headquarters in New York, June 6 (local time). In a vote at the meeting, South Korea was elected as a non-permanent member of the 15-member United Nations Security Council for a two-year term starting on Jan. 1, 2024. Yonhap

Yoon urged to take advantage of status to advance national interests

By Jung Min-ho

Soon after South Korea was elected to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as one of the five new non-permanent members, Wednesday (KST), President Yoon Suk Yeol described the achievement as a "victory of global diplomacy."

South Korea, which secured the Asia-Pacific seat after winning 180 votes from 192 member states, hopes to expand its influence in the key principal organ of the U.N. to better address issues related to North Korea at a time when Pyongyang is perfecting its nuclear weapons program.

Experts contacted by The Korea Times said, however, that South Korea's ability to change North Korea's trajectory will be limited, during its two-year membership, amid a new Cold War climate in which China and Russia ― permanent UNSC members with veto powers ― increasingly refuse to join any U.S.-led sanctions against the North.

The experts added that whether winning the seat will be remembered as a South Korean victory in diplomacy depends on what the country will do with it, urging Yoon to take advantage of all the opportunities it offers to advance key national interests ― even if that sometimes means a conflict of interest with the U.S. or other allies.

"With the right set of priorities and strategies, we can make meaningful contributions on a range of global issues while advancing the topics of great importance to us," said Kim Sung-soo, a professor of international relations at Hanyang University. "The UNSC's role has been limited ― and will likely remain so ― in terms of resolving many issues regarding North Korea. So South Korea should think about how to use the status to create or help create a network that would be helpful."

The UNSC is made up of 15 member states including five permanent ones ― Britain, France, Russia, China and the United States. South Korea's new term starts in 2024. This is the third time South Korea has sat on the council. It was elected in 1996-97 and 2013-14.

A TV screen shows an image of a North Korean rocket launch during a news program at Seoul Station in Seoul, June 1. AP-Yonhap

Kim Sung-joo, an international relations expert at Sungkyunkwan University, said the current geopolitical environment is much different from the past and requires different solutions to the same problem.

"China and Russia used to join the UNSC for resolutions and sanctions against North Korea's significant provocations. That time is over," he said.

"I think much of South Korea's success at the body depends on how it handles its relations with the two countries, especially China. The U.S. appears to have tried hard to manage the risks and fallout from its intensifying rivalry with China … Given the considerable impact Beijing can have on its bilateral relations with Seoul as well as on inter-Korean relations, we should ponder how to take advantage of the UNSC seat to advance our own agenda instead of blindly following the U.S.' lead."

Chung Jae-hung, a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute, agreed. But he said, given what the Yoon administration has shown on the diplomatic front, any change of direction is unlikely.

"French President Emmanuel Macron, for example, has said that France's interest is not the same as the U.S.' interest, raising doubts over the West's unity over issues like Taiwan. This position has drawn criticism from other countries and his own. Yet it has also drawn praise from the people who thought it would be more in France's interest," Chung said.

The UNSC is one of the six principal organs of the U.N. and is charged with ensuring international peace and security. Although it has largely been ineffective during the Cold War decades as well as now, amid the Washington-Beijing rivalry, it did authorize military interventions in the Korean War and the Congo Crisis and a number of peacekeeping missions across the world.

mj6c2@koreatimes.co.kr