Korea’s Challenge to re-enter the UN Security Council

The United Nations Security Council Chamber in New York
(Photo from Wikipedia)

Korea currently contacting each regional groups and countries
Considered to win easily, but required to be fully ready

The Republic of Korea Permanent Mission to The United Nations, led by Ambassador Kim Sook, is trying to hold dominant position to be elected as non-permanent member of UN Security Council (UNSC). Ambassador Kim will meet each of representatives from regional groups and countries for next one week, to prevent breakaway and secure their support. 

Korean government is challenging to re-enter the UNSC, where Korea took a seat from 1996 to 1997. Currently, Korea is competing with Bhutan and Cambodia to get one empty seat of the Asian Group. Korea is expected to be elected easily if there is no unexpected event. In fact, Korea is considered to obtain enough votes to be elected (about 129 votes, two-thirds of the whole members).

However, Korea must be ready to any circumstances until the end. According to former cases, usually about 10 percent of supporting votes leave the country, even promised by both in writing and word. Hungary in 2011, for instance, got only 60 percent of its secured votes. 

Moreover, at the end of the intense competition, weird things also happen. For example, a Cambodian daily newspaper reported that Cambodia secured supporting votes from over 100 countries, and referred 7~8 countries of them. But some of the countries are proved to support Korea, later clarifying that ‘This is not true’.

Korea will have to focus its diplomatic power to be elected in the first voting. This is because there is no runoff election in this election, so voting continues if no one country gets two-thirds of support from rest of the countries. The vote will be started on 11 A.M., October 18. 

Ambassador Kim said, “The contact schedule is already fixed, even the day before election. We cannot reveal how many supporting votes we secured, but there is nothing special problems to us”.

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