Current Korea

Solidarity at a
Watershed Moment

This year¡¯s U.N. General Assembly in New York, Sept. 20, raised awareness that the global society is ¡°at a watershed moment¡± where countries are required to come up with transformative solutions to complicated challenges.

Climate change has triggered heatwaves or floods across many parts of the world, while the bloodshed continues in Ukraine. Transformative solutions are clearly in urgent need to tackle this growing threat to humanity.

¡°The challenges are great. And they are interconnected. But they are not insurmountable,¡± said U.N. General Assembly President Csaba Kõrösi.

Freedom and Solidarity

The South Korean leader, too, believes that the world can surmount the interlocking challenges. Standing in front of world leaders gathered in New York, President Yoon Suk Yeol called for solutions to this watershed moment through ¡°freedom and solidarity.¡±

¡°The crisis confronting us will only be resolved when we stand firmly in solidarity to share the universal value of freedom and work together to uphold and spread our freedom,¡± he said.

Yoon then stressed the importance of the U.N.¡¯s role in bringing the community of nations together to pull through these turbulent times, noting that current global challenges call for closer adherence to the U.N. system.

¡°Threats to freedom and peace must be overcome through solidarity and fearless commitment to the framework of universal global norms consolidated over the years within the U.N. system. Any attempt to turn away from the U.N. system and universal norms will divide the global community into blocs, further compounding the crisis and turmoil,¡± he warned.

The president expressed his strong confidence in South Korea¡¯s increased role in helping the world address global challenges, such as COVID-19, climate change, and digital divide. ¡°As a responsible member of the international community, South Korea is committed to playing its due responsibility and role for the freedom of global citizens and prosperity of the global community.¡±

UN Diplomacy

Even though North Korea was omitted in his keynote speech, Yoon never forgot to bring it up in conversations that he had with world leaders on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

With U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the president affirmed that his country would do its best to open the closed door with the North. In case that the North makes further provocations, he asked Guterres to ¡°pay attention and provide support so that the international community can respond firmly with one voice.¡±

Yoon further used the U.N. stage to broaden South Korea¡¯s base for security and economic diplomacy with its key allies, as well.

In a brief South Korea-U.S. meeting, both presidents reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen their countries¡¯ alliance and cooperate closely to address the threat posed by North Korea. Yoon and Biden also discussed their countries¡¯ ongoing cooperation on a myriad of issues, including supply chain resilience, economic and energy security, and climate change.

Among those issues, Yoon asked Biden to help address Seoul¡¯s concerns that the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed by the U.S. president in August, will eliminate federal tax credits for electric vehicles made outside North America, meaning companies like South Korea¡¯s Hyundai and Kia. In turn, Biden said he was ¡°well aware¡± of Seoul¡¯s concerns and asked to continue discussions.

A bilateral summit between South Korea and Japan took place, as well. It was the first one-on-one talks between Seoul and Tokyo since December 2019. The two leaders promised to improve bilateral relations by resolving pending issues, including North Korea¡¯s nuclear program, and standing together with the international community in defending the universal values of liberal democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

It¡¯s highly significant that despite the existence of various disputes between the two sides, the leaders met and took the first step toward a resolution. The meeting surely raised hope of further improving Seoul-Tokyo ties, badly strained over wartime issues related to Japan¡¯s colonialization of the Korean Peninsula.

With his U.N. diplomacy in New York, Yoon once again was able to reaffirm the support of the international community for his foreign policy agenda, one that focuses on deepening his country¡¯s relations with allies in everything from the nuclear threat to global supply chains.