Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea in Geneva

Disarmament and Non-proliferation Issues

Geneva has been a central stage of disarmament since the Conference on Disarmament (CD) as well as other conferences on important disarmament conventions such as the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) and the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) take place in the city. As a matter of fact, the Conference on Disarmament, the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum established in 1979, succeeded in drafting various disarmament conventions, specifically, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1968, the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) in 1972, the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1993 and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996, respectively. The Conference consisting of 65 member countries holds meetings for 24 weeks per year to discuss such core issues as nuclear disarmament, Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT), Prevention of Arms Race in the Outer Space (PAROS) and Negative Security Assurance (NSA).

The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva has contributed to the promotion of legitimate national interests of the Republic of Korea as well as the peace and security of the international community particularly by participating actively in the efforts to strengthen the international regime of disarmament and non-proliferation. It has partaken in the CD meetings and expressed its own positions on issues under discussion since it joined the Conference in 1996. In 2016, Ambassador Inchul KIM, then Head of Delegation of the Republic of Korea to the CD, served as Chairman of the Conference and carried out its mandate on the consultation and presentation of the annual report of the Conference to be submitted to the General Assembly of the United Nations. The Mission has also actively participated in the disarmament efforts by participating annual meetings and conferences on disarmament held in Geneva, including the BWC, the CCW and the ATT and by hosting or co-organizing various events in cooperation with think-tanks and research institutes such as the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP).

Human rights

Since its entry into the United Nations (UN) in 1991, the Republic of Korea (ROK) has been actively involved in the work of the key human rights organizations of the UN. Korea was a member of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) since 1993 and contributed to the work of the CHR by working closely with the international community for the strengthening of international human rights mechanisms. Furthermore, Korea, which has been a member of the Human Rights Council (HRC) since its establishment in June 2006, was re-elected to the HRC in November 2015 for the 2016-2018 term. During its tenure, the Korean Government has been actively engaged in discussions on major human rights issues, ranging from the protection and promotion of vulnerable groups to country-specific human rights issues such as the human rights situation in North Korea and the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.

Besides, Korea places great importance on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism of the Council, which involves a review of the human rights records of all 193 UN member states. The Korean Government has fully engaged itself in the entire UPR process in good faith, including the follow-up to the recommendations. In addition, Korea has been actively participating in the UPR Working Group session, with a view to contributing to advancing human rights and responding to serious human rights situations in a timely manner.

Meanwhile, the Korean Government, sharing the deep concerns of the international community over the human rights situation in North Korea, has been actively engaged in the international cooperation for the improvement of human rights in North Korea. Based upon its basic position that the issue of human rights should be dealt with as a universal value, separate from other issues, the Korean Government has constructively participated in discussions on the human rights conditions in North Korea. In accordance with this position, the Korean Government has been co-sponsoring the resolutions on the human rights situation in the DPRK at the UN General Assembly and the HRC since 2008.

Additionally, as a state party to seven core international human rights conventions, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights(ICCPR) and the International Covenenat on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights(ICESCR), Korea is earnestly striving to implement the provisions of the relevant conventions at the national level through periodic reporting and review as mandated by the conventions.

Humanitarian assistance

The Republic of Korea, as a responsible middle power donor country of the international community, provides humanitarian assistance to countries in protracted and forgotten crises as well as those in need of emergency relief due to crises caused by earthquakes, storms, epidemics and other unforeseen disasters. In this regard, the Korean government set up The Republic of Korea Humanitarian Assistance Strategy in order to implement Korea's humanitarian assistance more effectively and systematically. Based on this strategy, the Korean government plans to comply with the common humanitarian principles shared by the international community, expand its humanitarian assistance budget commensurate with Korea's international standing.

The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva has enhanced cooperation with various multilateral channels on humanitarian affairs including UNHCR, IOM, ICRC/IFRC, UN OCHA which locates in Geneva – a humanitarian capital. The mission has contributed to responding to global humanitarian crises and actively participated in the discussion of the international community for humanitarian responses.

Global Health

The World Health Organization (WHO) was established in 1948 as a specialized agency under the UN, with the objective of ensuring the highest attainable level of health for all people. Every year, many countries around the world commemorate 7th of June, the date when WHO was established, as a World Health Day.

WHO has 194 member states, 6 regional offices and 150 country offices. The Republic of Korea joined the WHO in 1949 and is the member of the Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO), together with China and Japan. As the outbreaks of Ebola and Mers in 2015, and Zika virus in 2016 show, infectious diseases nowadays spread rapidly among countries. The role and responsibilities of WHO, the leading international agency for controlling and responding to infectious diseases are getting more and more important. In addition, WHO’s mandates include control of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, maternal and child health, and norms and standards setting for ensuring safety and efficacy of medicines.

Employment and Labour

The International labour Organization (ILO) was established in 1919 under the Versailles Treaty after the World War I. Its mandate was clearly declared in the Philadelphia Declaration in 1944 that “(u)niversal and lasting peace can be accomplished only if it is based on social justice.” The ILO is the only UN special agency with the tripartite governance where governments, workers and employers are represented.

Republic of Korea joined the ILO in 1991 as the 152nd member state. It has been continuously elected as the member of the Governing Body since 1996. Ambassador Mr. CHUNG Eui-yong served as the Chairperson of the Governing Body for the term 2003-04, and Ambassador Mr. CHOI Kyong-lim and Ambassador Ms. PAIK Ji-ah took the Chairperson of the Government Group of the ILO for the term 2017-18.