Standing before members again two years later at the General Assembly, I am keenly reminded of the precious normal daily life that has been lost. Guided by the leadership of Mr. Shahid, who assumed the presidency of the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session, I hope the international community will gather its wisdom and work in partnership to tackle global crises.
For the past five years, Secretary-General Guterres has worked tirelessly to revitalize and reform the United Nations. I extend my sincere congratulations and respect to the Secretary-General on his re-appointment. I am most certain that he will make greater strides in the key agendas dearest to his heart, such as peacekeeping operations, the response to climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). I hope that this year’s session will impart to the people of the world a message of hope that we will emerge victorious from the pandemic and the climate crisis and attain sustainable development.
By nature, humans build and live together in communities. By resorting to collective intellect and mutual aid in those communities, humankind has prevailed over myriad infectious diseases and has lived in coexistence. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic will also be surmounted by love of humankind
and by solidarity and, at its centre, the United Nations shall stand.
In our fight against the coronavirus, borders were crossed to share genomic information, vaccines were successfully launched through close collaboration and therapeutics are also being developed at a rapid pace. A triumph over COVID-19 demands that we break down barriers. The horizons of our lives and thoughts have extended from villages to countries and from countries to the entire planet. I believe that that is the dawn of an era of global community.
In this era of global community, we employ one another and work with one another. We gather our wisdom together and we act together. To date, countries with advanced economies and more power have taken the lead in the world. Yet, from now on, all nations will be called upon to move in tandem with their best possible goals and approaches in the pursuit of sustainable development. As the pivot of such cooperation and action, the United Nations will be asked to take on a larger role than it now plays.
Having experienced the scourge of two World Wars, the founders of the United Nations aspired to establish an order for world peace. The United Nations has now been requested to recommend a new set of rules and goals, as it ushers in this era of global community. To facilitate mutually beneficial cooperation within the framework of the multilateral order, the United Nations must become an institution that builds trust among nations. It must be an institution that brings together the commitment and capabilities of the community of nations to galvanize action. The Republic of Korea will take active part in the international order of solidarity and cooperation, led by the United Nations.
As a newly independent State after the Second World War, Korea was able to build a democracy and a strong economy with the support of the United Nations and the international community. Now, as a responsible member of the international community, Korea is determined to step up its efforts to help countries prosper together and embrace one another. Korea will take the lead in putting forward a vision for partnership and coexistence that can be shared among developed and developing countries alike.
A most urgent task for the global community is delivering an inclusive recovery from the coronavirus crisis. Low-income families, the elderly and other vulnerable groups were left most widely exposed to the threat of the virus. Socioeconomic problems that had accumulated over the years were brought to the fore by the pandemic. Poverty and hunger have deepened. From income and jobs to education, gaps widened across gender, class and countries. For years, the United Nations had already called for the reduction of such inequalities and had outlined the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
It is now incumbent upon all Members of the United Nations to work with greater vigour to realize the SDGs. Korea will stand together with others to help all people, in every country, live without the fear of coronavirus. We will deliver on our $200 million pledge to the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility Advance Market Commitment. As one of the global vaccine production hubs, we will strive for an equitable and expeditious supply of COVID-19 vaccines. Korea will also stand at the vanguard of the endeavours to achieve the SDGs.
In a bid to defeat the pandemic and make a new leap forward, we are pushing ahead with the Korean New Deal policy. Notably, we are reinforcing employment and social safety nets and expanding investment in people, under the New Deal, to realize an inclusive recovery that puts people first. Our policy experience from the Korean New Deal will be shared with the rest of the world. To help developing countries make progress in achieving the SDGs together, Korea plans to scale up its official development assistance, in particular in green energy, digital technology and health care — areas that have seen a surge in demand during the pandemic.
Another pressing task for the global community is responding to the climate crisis. Even as we speak, our planet is getting hotter faster than anticipated. The community of nations must join forces in closer concert to push forward carbon neutrality. Last year, Korea made a commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050 and legislated its vision and implementation framework by enacting the Framework Act on Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth. By next month, we will finalize our 2050 carbon neutrality scenario and unveil our enhanced 2030 nationally determined contribution at the twenty-sixth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held in November.
We have shut down coal-fired power plants earlier than scheduled and ended public financing for new
overseas coal-fired power generation, with efforts under way to ramp up the generation of new and renewable energy. Carbon neutrality can be achieved only when each and every country is engaged in continued cooperation, and action plans must also be sustainable. Under the New Deal, Korea is turning its carbon neutrality commitment into opportunities to cultivate new industries and create jobs. Many Korean businesses are voluntarily joining the RE100 campaign and expanding their investment in hydrogen and other new and renewable energy, while pushing forward environmental, social and governance management and carbon neutrality with greater force.
For its part, the Government will firmly back the private sector in technology development and investment. Korea will scale up its climate official development assistance and establish a green new deal trust fund, with a view to supporting the work of the Global Green Growth Institute and sharing its technologies and capacity for carbon neutrality.
We will stand ready to help developing countries build their capacity to tackle the climate crisis. Moreover, building on our experience as host of the Seoul Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 Summit in galvanizing global commitment to climate action, Korea seeks to host the twenty- eighth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2023. We aspire to play a more vigorous role in the faithful implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
The most ardent dream of the global community is to create a life that is peaceful and secure. The birth of the United Nations transformed the paradigm of international relations based on competition and conflict into one of coexistence and shared prosperity. The United Nations has endeavoured to replace the incomplete peace maintained by the balance of power with sustainable peace grounded in cooperation, thereby promoting freedom for all of humankind.
To ensure complete and lasting peace that begins firmly to take root on the Korean peninsula, Korea remains fully committed to doing its part. In envisioning a denuclearized and co-prosperous Korean peninsula, the Government of the Republic of Korea has steadily carried forward the peace process on the Korean peninsula. Furthermore, with the support of the international community, we have achieved historic milestones — the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Reunification of the Korean Peninsula, the Pyongyang Joint Declaration of September 2018 and the military agreement resulting from the Inter-Korean summit, as well as the Singapore Declaration from the United States-North Korea summit. Peace on the Korean peninsula always begins with dialogue and cooperation. I call for a speedy resumption of dialogue between the two Koreas and between the United States and North Korea. I hope that the Korean peninsula will prove the power of dialogue and cooperation in fostering peace.
Two years ago in this very Hall, I declared zero tolerance for war and advocated mutual security guarantees and co-prosperity as the three principles in resolving issues related to the Korean peninsula (see A/74/PV.3). Last year, I proposed a declaration to end the war on the Korean peninsula. More than anything, an end-the-war declaration will mark a pivotal point of departure in creating a new order of reconciliation and cooperation on the Korean peninsula.
Today I once again urge the community of nations to mobilize its strength for an end-the-war declaration on the Korean peninsula and propose that the three parties — the two Koreas and the United States — or the four parties — the two Koreas, the United States and China — come together and declare that the war on the Korean peninsula is over. When the parties involved in the Korean war stand together and proclaim an end to the war, I believe we can make irreversible progress in denuclearization and usher in an era of complete peace.
This year marks the meaningful thirtieth anniversary of the simultaneous admission of South Korea and North Korea into the United Nations. Following the joint accession to the United Nations, the two Koreas recognized that they were two separate nations with different systems and ideologies. However, that was never meant to perpetuate the division. Only when we acknowledge and respect each other can we set out on a path towards exchange, reconciliation and unification. When the two Koreas and surrounding nations work together, peace will be firmly established on the Korean peninsula and prosperity fostered across the whole of North-East Asia. It will be referred to as the Korean peninsula model, in which peace is attained through cooperation.
For its part, North Korea must brace for changes that befit the era of global community. I expect that
the international community, together with Korea, will remain ready and willing to reach out to North Korea in a cooperative spirit. Heeding the calls of the members of separated families, already advanced in age, we must waste no time in pressing ahead with their reunions.
When South Korea and North Korea are engaged together in regional platforms, such as the Northeast Asia Cooperation for Health Security, a more effective response to infectious diseases and natural disasters will become feasible. As a community bound by common destiny on the Korean peninsula and as members of the global community, the South and the North, I hope, will come together to join forces. I will make unyielding efforts to build a Korean peninsula that promotes shared prosperity and cooperation until my very last day in office.
The recent situation in Afghanistan serves as a stark reminder of the crucial role that the United Nations plays in advancing peace and human rights. Korea will host the United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference in December. To ensure safer and more effective United Nations peacekeeping missions, Korea will make use of that opportunity to encourage closer cooperation in the international community.
Korea will also increase its fair share of contributions to United Nations initiatives in conflict prevention and peacebuilding. We will make a bid for a seat as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for the 2024 to 2025 term. We stand ready to play an active role in building sustainable peace and supporting thriving future generations. I look forward to cooperation with, and the support of, members in that regard.
Even in the darkest hours of adversity, humankind has never lost hope for the future. Trusting one another and working side by side, we have changed that very hope into reality. Even in the face of the COVID-19 crisis, we are again sowing the seeds of hope. To build back better, we are gathering our greatest strengths. If humankind is united as one and never loses sight of today, we will surely be able to build a better tomorrow. As humankind embarks on a new journey to usher in the era of global community, I count on the United Nations to lead the way with a spirit of solidarity and cooperation.