"This is a victory for global diplomacy." South Korean President Yoon Seok-hyeol commented on South Korea's election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council on June 7.
On June 6, 2023, local time, the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly held a plenary meeting at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to elect Sierra Leone, Algeria, South Korea, Guyana and Slovenia as non-permanent members of the Security Council for a two-year term beginning on January 1, 2024. The picture shows the President of the 77th session of the General Assembly, Klesch, announcing the voting results. Visual China map
On the 6th local time, the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly elected a new round of non-permanent members of the Security Council in New York, United States, and South Korea was elected as a non-permanent member from 2024 to 2025 after 180 votes in 192 member states. Algeria, Sierra Leone, Guyana and Slovenia were also elected. Belarus lost its bid for a seat in Eastern Europe in this round of elections and lost to Slovenia.
South Korea returned to the Security Council after 11 years and was elected as a non-permanent member for the third time. According to Yonhap News Agency, a senior official of the South Korean presidential office said that this is a brilliant achievement achieved by Yoon Seok-yue's unremitting efforts in the past year to emphasize unity and cooperation among countries that share universal values and show the face of South Korea's "global hub country".
For South Korea, non-permanent seats would not only boost the country's prestige, but also go some way toward reversing South Korea's disappointment at losing its seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council last October. But South Korea is pursuing much more than that on the international stage.
Arrived on the front line of dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue through "extraordinary"
Yoon seeks to establish South Korea as a "global hub," and his election as a non-permanent member is an important step toward that goal. To this end, the Korean government has expanded its engagement with regional and international organizations, including dialogues and meetings with African and Latin American countries and leaders of Pacific island countries.
The UN Security Council is composed of 5 permanent members and 10 non-permanent members, and the non-permanent seats are distributed according to regions, including one in the Asia-Pacific region, two in Africa, one in Latin America and one in Eastern Europe. In this round of elections, South Korea is the only candidate in the Asia-Pacific region and has no rival, but it needs to obtain more than two-thirds of the votes of the countries participating in the vote, so it is crucial to have broad support from all countries.
On June 6, 2023, local time, New York, USA, the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly held a plenary meeting at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, South Korea was elected as a non-permanent member of the 15 members of the United Nations Security Council, and Japanese Foreign Minister Seok Kanko congratulated South Korean Ambassador to the United Nations Hwang Joon-ku (right). Visual China map
At the end of May this year, South Korea invited the leaders of the 18 Pacific Islands Forum members to attend the Korea-Pacific Islands Summit in Seoul and agreed to establish comprehensive security cooperation in various fields such as ocean, climate, energy, cyber and health. During the meeting, Yoon Seok-hyeol met with 10 Pacific island leaders and said that South Korea would provide customized assistance that better meets the needs of each country. In July last year, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin held a discussion with African ambassadors, emphasizing that African countries are valuable partners in South Korea's vision of "global hub country" and plans to upgrade its diplomacy with Africa by hosting the 2024 Korea-Africa Special Summit.
South Korea is pushing for globalization, but conservative governments are tying South Korean diplomacy to so-called "values." Park Jin said on a South Korean television program in January about major country relations: "We do not consider which side we want to get closer, but according to the values we pursue, we decide to cooperate with the relevant countries or ask the relevant countries to abide by the norms and rules." He went on to say, "The United States has always attached importance to the values of democracy, freedom, the rule of law, and human rights." Its campization is wrapped in the concept of so-called "values diplomacy."
After winning a non-permanent seat, South Korean Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokeswoman Ahn Eun-joo said at a news conference that South Korea "will play a more important role in maintaining the international order based on universal values and rules" as an opportunity to be elected.
In addition to diplomatic influence considerations, South Korea needs to address geopolitical challenges through its non-permanent membership. The South Korean Foreign Ministry said on the 7th that as a party to the Korean Peninsula issue, South Korea will make positive contributions to the Security Council's efforts to deal with the threat of North Korea's nuclear weapons during its term of office. South Korea is encouraged to win non-permanent seats because it is fully addressing security challenges from North Korea, and the U.S.-led coalition is expected to press for larger inspections of North Korea's nuclear facilities next year, when South Korea and Japan, as non-permanent members, will emphasize dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue.
Japan, which previously won non-permanent seats from 2023 to 2024, is stepping up pressure on North Korea with the United States. In February, after North Korea tested a ballistic missile, the Japanese government requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council. In May, the United States proposed more sanctions against North Korea at the Security Council, but this was not unanimously agreed by the P5.
Before the start of the term of office of the non-permanent members, the Republic of Korea will be able to visit all meetings of the Council as a newly elected member from October this year, but the non-permanent members do not have the right of veto, but can participate in the Council's agenda and votes. According to the Korea Herald, Shin Jong-woo, a senior analyst at the South Korean Defense and Security Forum, said that cooperation between the United States, Japan and South Korea in the Security Council to deal with the North Korean issue is difficult to bring about a meaningful breakthrough because the relationship between the United States and China and Russia is in a state of tension.
South Korea's "G8" dream
South Korea's diplomatic ambitions are not limited to a seat on the UN Security Council, and discussions about joining the G7 have been heard, especially this year's invitation from Japan to the G7 Hiroshima summit.
South Korea's proposal to join the G7 was "hyped" after 2020 when then-US President Donald Trump floated the idea. However, given the poor relations between South Korea and Japan, Japan has clear opposition, and South Korea's expectations for joining the G7 are not high. As relations between South Korea and Japan have improved this year, attitudes toward this issue have become increasingly optimistic in South Korea.
On the eve of the G7 Hiroshima Summit, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin published an article in the Culture Daily entitled "Leading the International Democracy Summit and the G8 Road", proposing the idea of expanding the G7 and including South Korea. However, in response to the possibility of South Korea's participation in the G7, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in an interview with South Korea's JoongAng Daily that "there has been no relevant discussion" and there is no issue that the United States is in favor and Japan is against.
The G8 dream fell short in Hiroshima, but South Korea is still encouraging itself, Park Jin said at a recent forum, "President Yoon Seok-hyeok's foreign policy has elevated South Korea's status to the same level as the G7 countries, reaching the status of the G8." South Korean Ambassador to Japan Yoon Deok-min said on May 24 that South Korea's comprehensive national strength has reached the standard of the Group of Seven (G7) and "very much hopes to join the G8," according to Japan's Jiji News Agency. He also said that "the biggest obstacle to South Korea's accession to the G7 is Japan" and that "it should be easy if it has Japan's support."
According to the Korea Times, analysts believe that South Korea, as Asia's fourth-largest economy may have every reason to become a member of the G7, given the economy, military size and democratic system, but South Korea may not be the only option, and the G7 expansion will only occur if many countries join, especially India and Australia. Moreover, the practical benefits of South Korea's accession to the G7 have been questioned. From a political point of view, South Korea's diplomacy is actually aligned with the G7; In terms of economic benefits, the G7's share of the global economy is declining. If it becomes a member of the G7, it means that South Korea becomes part of the "West".
It is worth mentioning that when the Yoon Seok-hyeol government focused on the diplomatic field, South Korea faced multiple problems, the fertility rate reached a record low, exports continued to decline, and the OECD released its latest economic outlook report in June, which lowered South Korea's economic growth forecast this year to 1.5% from 1.6% previously. In this context, Yoon Seok-yue's approval rating hovers at a low level, and a poll released by Yonhap News Agency on June 6 showed that the public's favorable rating for President Yoon Seok-yue's administrative performance was 36.3%, and the negative rating rate was 58.5%, and the biggest reason for giving both positive and negative reviews was diplomatic security, showing the separation of public opinion.