Park Jin Meets UN Security Council Members: "Strong Response Needed to North Korean Provocations"

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] Foreign Minister Park Jin met with ambassadors of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) member states in New York on the 1st (local time) to exchange views on the Korean Peninsula issue and urged a strong response to North Korea's successive provocations.

Foreign Minister Park Jin is taking a commemorative photo before holding a "Luncheon Meeting with UN Security Council Member States' Ambassadors to the UN on the Korean Peninsula Issue" with the ambassadors of the Security Council member states in New York on the 1st (local time), his first schedule in the United States.
[Photo by Ministry of Foreign Affairs]

Upon arriving in New York that day, Minister Park held a luncheon meeting with the UNSC member state ambassadors as his first schedule in the U.S. At the meeting, Minister Park explained the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's Global Pivot State (GPS) initiative and expressed his determination to actively contribute to international freedom, peace, and prosperity.

In particular, Minister Park pointed out that since last year, North Korea has posed a serious threat to the Korean Peninsula, the region, and the international community through unprecedented levels of missile provocations and nuclear threats, urging the Security Council to take strong countermeasures against North Korea's repeated violations of resolutions.

He also emphasized that UNSC member states and UN member countries must thoroughly implement sanctions against North Korea to induce its return to denuclearization negotiations. Minister Park expressed the government's willingness to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue through dialogue and diplomacy, stating that under the 'Bold Initiative,' the government would provide corresponding measures, including political, economic, and military fields, if North Korea takes substantive steps toward denuclearization.

The UNSC member state ambassadors attending the meeting also agreed that North Korea's provocations pose a serious threat to the international non-proliferation regime and exchanged opinions on the Security Council's response direction. The meeting was attended by the five permanent members: Barbara Woodward, UK Ambassador to the UN; Nicolas de Rivi?re, French Ambassador; Vasily Nebenzya, Russian Ambassador; Robert Wood, U.S. Deputy Ambassador; Dai Bing, Chinese Deputy Ambassador, as well as deputy ambassadors from Japan, Switzerland, and others. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that all former member states except Mozambique attended.

Along with this, Minister Park expressed his ambition that if South Korea is elected as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for the 2024?2025 term, it will play a constructive role in fulfilling the Council's duties, and he also requested the support and encouragement of the UNSC member states.