SC Reform: Interview with the Korean delegate

UN Herald interviewed South Korean permanent representative to United Nations, Mr. Matej Jordan. In a videoclip you can hear more about Korean position towards Security Council and its potential reform. Mr. Jordan was also speaking about the Uniting for Consensus group (UfC), in which Korea is very involved. However, Korean delegate confirmed that their state is and will be cooperating also with other state representations. He strongly believes that the time for reform is right.

In the first part of interview Mr. Jordan explained Korean view on the role that Security Council has in the international community. He is convinced that Security Council is one of the institutions that have power to decide if we will have world peace and security. He also believes that Security Council should be reformed in a way, that will be more inclusive and transparent and by that more capable of maintaining the world peace.

According to him, preposition that was made in UfC is really good because it includes wider representation, especially of African, Asian and Latin American states and upgrade of working methods inside the Security Council. This is why he is very optimistic and expects wide support from other states. However, we saw some hesitation during the questions about cooperation outside Uniting for Consensus. Mr. Jordan confirmed that South Korea is talking to other states but he did not want to talk about the names. It looks that Korea is really sticking to official UfC position, which is about increasing non-permanent seats, bigger influence of developing countries and reforming the veto structure. It hardly possible that South Korea will change their position and it is assumed that talks with other countries are dedicated to build strong support for UfC idea of Security Council for 21st century.

Luka Kavčič