Korean support for the UN needed on many fronts – Secretary-General Ban

The United Nations needs the support of the Republic of Korea (ROK) on many fronts as challenges multiply in the world, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said last night.

Mr. Ban told the annual dinner in New York of the Korea Society that he hoped developing countries can benefit from the ROK’s experience in becoming both a democracy and an economic powerhouse, and transforming from a receiving nation to a donor country.

He also asked the Republic to be even more generous in its official development assistance (ODA) to needy countries, stressing the importance of such assistance in achieving the anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

Mr. Ban called on the ROK to continue its “active and constructive role” in seeking the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula through the six-parties talks involving China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Japan, the ROK, Russia and the United States on efforts to dismantle the DPRK’s nuclear weapons programme.

“As we move forward the task will become even more arduous,” he said. “The United Nations and the international community will need to redouble their support. The best way to complement the six-party process is to build on progress achieved in the inter-Korean dialogue and cooperation over the past decade. I will do all I can to advance this work.”

He also called for support for the DPRK’s efforts to tackle the humanitarian needs of its most vulnerable citizens. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned today that the country, where 6.5 million people are already estimated to be suffering from food insecurity, faces a potential food crisis due to a low harvest resulting partly from last summer’s heavy floods.