Official Launch of Next Year's 'UN Peacekeeping Ministers Meeting' Preparatory Planning Team

Launch of Preparatory Planning Team: Support of 60,000 Masks to UN Peacekeeping Mission in Africa

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The '2021 UN Peacekeeping Ministers Meeting Preparation Planning Group' officially launched its inaugural ceremony on the 6th, with the attendance of Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, and began its full-scale operations.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense plan to co-host the 2021 UN Peacekeeping Ministers Meeting at COEX in Seoul from April 8 to 9 next year. Officials from related ministries who supported personnel for the launch of the preparation planning group, including the Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, National Police Agency, and Joint Chiefs of Staff, also participated in the unveiling of the preparation planning group plaque.

The UN Peacekeeping Ministers Meeting is the fourth meeting following those held in the UK in September 2016, Canada in November 2017, and the UN Headquarters in March 2019. It is the largest and highest-level meeting in the UN peace and security sector, attended by foreign and defense ministers from over 150 financial and troop-contributing countries.

The preparation planning group, centered on dispatched personnel from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Science and ICT, and National Police Agency, establishes an organic inter-ministerial cooperation system. It is responsible for overall event preparations, including deriving commitments covering technology and medical fields for international peace and security, preparing subsidiary events, and establishing safety measures.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, in her congratulatory speech, urged, "As the largest-ever ministerial-level meeting held domestically and marking the 30th anniversary of South Korea's UN membership in 2021, this UN Peacekeeping Ministers Meeting symbolizes the friendly relationship between Korea and the UN. Please make every effort to achieve the best and highest outcomes for the promotion of international peace and security."

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo also emphasized, "As this event gathers defense and foreign ministers from around the world, it should serve as an opportunity for the international community to better understand and support our efforts for peace on the Korean Peninsula, as well as UN peacekeeping activities." He added, "Please strive to make the event exemplary not only in the event itself but also in protocol, security, and quarantine."

On this occasion of the preparation planning group's launch, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense decided to provide a total of 60,000 quarantine masks to two UN peacekeeping missions in Africa that are carrying out their duties under difficult conditions amid the COVID-19 situation.

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense plan to deliver 30,000 masks each to the UN Mission in South Sudan, where our Hanbit Unit is active, and the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which requested quarantine supplies from our government." He added, "We will continue to strengthen our contributions to the UN peace and security sector."