Global Stage Awaits: Cho Tae-yeol Heads to New York for UN General Assembly, Multilateralism on the Agenda
Minister Cho Tae-yeol leaving the country to attend the UN Security Council in June
Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yeol departs for New York, USA via Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport on the morning of June 19 to attend to duties including assuming the Presidency of the United Nations (UN) Security Council.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yeol will board a plane to New York on the 23rd to attend the 79th UN General Assembly High-level Session.
Minister Cho will deliver a keynote speech at the general discussion of the General Assembly scheduled for the 27th and attend the Security Council open discussion and the Peace Building Commission ministerial meeting.
In the keynote speech, it is expected that the head of the Korean government, who will serve as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the next two years starting this year, will emphasize the role of the UN and the restoration of multilateralism.
In addition, it is expected that Korea’s role and will to contribute to the development of international order and peace and security, as well as the August 15 Unification Doctrine, will be discussed as topics.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister Cho is also scheduled to hold about 20 bilateral and multilateral meetings with foreign ministers from each country attending the UN General Assembly and representatives of international organizations.
This general meeting will be attended by top diplomatic leaders from major countries, including U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, Wang Yi, Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Communist Party of China and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
There is interest in whether this will lead to a separate meeting with Vice Minister Wang, who recently expressed his intention to visit Korea during a meeting with a delegation of Korean lawmakers.
Attention is also being paid to whether the Korea-US-Japan foreign ministers’ meeting can be held.
Kyodo News reported that at a meeting scheduled for the 23rd, South Korea, the US, and Japan will confirm a plan to strengthen cooperation to respond to North Korea’s continued development of nuclear weapons and missiles.
It is unclear whether Minister Cho will hold a separate bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister Kamikawa, who has declared his candidacy in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election on the 27th to select Japan’s next prime minister.
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui is likely to not attend, so the possibility of a meeting between the top diplomatic leaders of the two Koreas has disappeared.
Minister Cho will attend the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the MIKTA Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, a consultative body of Korea, Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey, and Australia, on the occasion of this UN General Assembly.
In addition, we plan to attend a North Korean human rights side event held to raise international awareness of North Korean human rights and send a united message to North Korea.