Ministry of Foreign Affairs Discusses UN Peacebuilding System with 14 Countries Including China, Japan, Australia, and Vietnam

Hosting Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting for the 2020 UN Peacebuilding Architecture Review

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the morning of the 10th, Jung Byung-ha, Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' International Organizations Bureau, hosted the '2020 UN Peacebuilding Architecture Review Virtual Regional Meeting' for the first time in the Asia-Pacific region, and discussed with representatives from the foreign ministries of 14 countries and UN Secretariat officials the promotion of UN peacebuilding activities amid the COVID-19 situation and considerations at the Asia-Pacific regional level, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.

Representatives from the foreign ministries of Thailand, Singapore, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, and Fiji attended the meeting, which also included panelists such as directors-level officials from the UN Peacebuilding Support Office and the UN Development Coordination Office, as well as think tank experts from the United Nations University.

The Review of the UN Peacebuilding Architecture meetings have been held every five years since 2005 to evaluate the UN peacebuilding mechanisms and activities, and this year introduced the first regional meeting procedure. The UN Peacebuilding Architecture consists of the Peacebuilding Commission, the Peacebuilding Fund, and the Peacebuilding Support Office.

Director General Jung said, "The COVID-19 situation restricts existing UN peacebuilding activities in some aspects, but it also serves as an opportunity to trigger substantive discussions and activities on new threats such as infectious diseases, poverty, and climate change during the peacebuilding process," adding, "To effectively respond to these threats, comprehensive consideration of regional characteristics, linkage with development sectors, and democratic and transparent governance that guarantees civic participation is necessary."

Attendees of the meeting expressed their agreement and evaluated that today's meeting timely highlighted and discussed new threats undermining peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region based on regional experiences and perspectives, hoping that opportunities to discuss Asia-Pacific regional contributions to future UN activities will continue to be provided.

South Korea has actively engaged in the UN peace and security field, serving as a member of the UN Peacebuilding Commission aiming for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in 2024-2025, and hosting the 2021 UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting. In line with this, South Korea hosted this meeting to reflect regional experiences and perspectives in the ongoing 'Review of the UN Peacebuilding Architecture' process led by the UN this year.

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, "The meeting's outcome document will be circulated and officially submitted to the UN Secretariat," and added, "We plan to continue to timely lead discussions and activities related to UN peace and security at regional and multilateral levels on various occasions."

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