More efforts needed to win nonpermanent status
South Korea has thrown its hat into the ring to become a nonpermanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The U.N. General Assembly will hold a vote, June 6, to choose the new 2024-2025 council members. Seoul is the single candidate representing the Asia-Pacific region. It previously sat on the council in 1996-1997 and 2013-2014.
Of the five new seats up for grabs, Algeria and Sierra Leone are running for Africa's two seats while Guyana is the only candidate of Latin America. Slovenia and Belarus are competing for a single seat for Eastern Europe. Since South Korea was approved as the only candidate by the U.N. Asia Pacific group last year, it appears to have secured far greater chances to win the nonpermanent status.
To be selected, any nation should garner support from two thirds (more than 128 countries) of the 193 U.N. member states. Despite the prevailing view that Seoul will become a member state, there is still opposition to such a bid. The disadvantages include escalating conflicts between the United States and China, disputes surrounding North Korea's continued missile launches and the standoff between the West and Russia amid the war in Ukraine. The states that maintain close relations with Pyongyang and Moscow will vote against Seoul.
In addition, South Korea failed to retain its status as a member of the U.N. Human Rights Council last year, prompting the need for it to intensify diplomatic efforts to return to the nonpermanent UNSC council. Once Seoul returns to the UNSC with overwhelming support, it will be able to raise its voice on pending global and regional issues.
"The Security Council is the most representative organization responsible for realizing a global central state and global responsible state," South Korea's Ambassador to the U.N. Hwang Joon-kook told Yonhap News Agency in an interview. A win in the vote will make South Korea return to the council for the first time in 11 years. This means the nation will become a nonpermanent council member for the third time since it entered the U.N. in 1991.
South Korea joining the U.N. body will have more significance than ever. Now, Seoul is one of the world's top 10 states in terms of economic, military and cultural prowess. Many industrialized nations froze or reduced overseas development assistance (ODA), due to financial difficulties in recent years. But South Korea has increased such aid by more than 20 percent.
Seoul joining the council will also help boost cooperation with the United States and Japan at the U.N. in their bids to cope with the growing challenges from North Korea's military activities. China and Russia have been taking flak for defending the North despite its repeated military maneuvering in violation of UNSC rules. Any nonpermanent council member is entitled to vote to determine potential U.N. sanctions against the North's missile launches.
The Yoon Suk Yeol administration has been conducting brisk diplomatic activities to garner support from U.N. members, mobilizing its apparatus in the Foreign Ministry, the U.N. and its overseas missions. It is hosting multilateral summits from Monday to Tuesday, inviting the heads of state from 14 Pacific Island states.
The Yoon administration's efforts to win support from the island states is meaningful as they have considerable influence in votes for international organizations despite their relatively smaller population and territories. They are also regarded as a "hotbed for resources diplomacy" replete with fisheries and minerals. It is time to expand our diplomatic territories to strengthen mutually beneficial relations with the Pacific Island nations. This will, of course, facilitate our bid to return to the Security Council.
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