President Roh, “United Nations, Should Speak for Various Nations”

President Roh Moo-hyun, who is visiting Vietnam for the fifth ASEM Summit, emphasized in the first ASEM session held at the International Convention Center in Hanoi on October 8 that, “The United Nations should be reformed in the direction of representing nations with various interests.”

According to the President’s diplomatic advisor, Jung Woo-sung, President Roh spoke for 10 minutes, far exceeding the allotted three minutes, and clearly stated the need for the currently debated U.N. reform to reflect democracy and representation.

President Roh spoke for semi-developed nations like Korea when he suggested the possibility of the U.N. Security Council increasing the number of rotating member countries to 24 from the original 15, while keeping intact the number of permanent members. South Korea is looking forward to becoming a U.N. Security Council rotating member country at the U.N. meeting in 2006 for the second time since 1997-1998.

On the Iraq issue, President Roh suggested, “It is crucial for Iraq to recover stability and to do so, a practical solution to the problem must be reached under the participation of many nations,” and further added, “Terrorism must be eradicated.”

Regarding the North Korean nuclear issue, President Roh said, “I express my gratitude toward the attention and support shown by the representatives of the ASEM member nations.”

On this issue, ASEM will express its support through a statement that is to be adopted at the closing of the meeting on October 9 toward a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue and the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula through six-nation talks, and is planning to hold a six-nation meeting as soon as possible. Also, in this statement, ASEM will advise the nations directly related to the nuclear issue in North Korea to continue tuning each other when faced with potential problems.

The following were included in the ASEM statement: support for reformation of the U.N. system, reaffirmation of the agreement to fight against all forms of terrorism, stopping of the proliferation of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction, and the asking of oil-producing nations to supply a reasonable amount of crude petroleum to stabilize oil prices.

Meanwhile, President Roh held an individual summit meeting with Germany’s Prime Minister Gerhard Schroeder. President Roh plans to hold a Korea-E.U. summit meeting on October 9 with the E.U.’s next president, Jean-Claude Junker, the prime minister of Luxembourg, and E.U. Commission President Romano Prodi, followed by a private meeting with Marek Belka, the prime minister of Poland.

Jung-Hun Kim jnghn@donga.com