Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

- Preparatory committee decides to reschedule the meeting (initially planned in April) for December 7-8, Seoul, in consideration of the COVID-19 situation -

□ The 3rd Preparatory Committee for the ｢2021 UN Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) Ministers’ Meeting｣ was held at the main building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, January 25, and was co-presided over by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-hwa and the Minister of National Defense Suh Wook.

◦ The committee checked the accumulated preparation items of the ｢UN PKO Ministers’ Meeting｣ through this 3rd Committee, and discussed approaches to cooperation among departments.

□ The ｢Preparatory Committee for the 2021 UN PKO Ministers Meeting｣ decided to reschedule the ministers meeting (initially planned for April) to December 7-8 in Seoul, after comprehensively considering the opinions of the Secretariat of the UN and the main related countries, as well as the COVID-19 situation inside and outside the country.

◦ The committee also decided to strengthen cooperation among departments by discussing agendas, pledges, concurrent events and promotion plans according to the modified schedule.

□ “We expect the representative contribution pledges, including technologies and medical care, will be able to play a role in narrowing the gap among the PKO agents of their respective countries, and the ministers’ meeting will also be a good chance to show the peace process on the Korean Peninsula and its performance through a peace tour and an exhibition,” Minister Suh said, who went on to stress that “As one of the middle power states, we should serve as a ‘bridge country’ between advanced countries and developing countries, taking this year’s ministers meeting as a starting point for international solidarity for each country around the world to promote peace and prosperity, as well as to overcome the COVID-19 crisis.”

□ It is expected that the ｢2021 UN PKO Ministers’ Meeting (December 7 – 8, Seoul)｣, which is to be hosted by our government, will serve as momentum to enhance the effectiveness and precision of PKO and to further elicit contributions to and cooperation on PKO from the international community in the post-COVID-19 era, based on the assessment of the progress of the UN PKO so far.