Briefing by the President of the General Assembly, Mr. Dennis Francis, to media in Seoul, Republic of Korea 20 October 2023

Briefing by the President of the General Assembly, Mr. Dennis Francis, to media in Seoul, Republic of Korea

20 October 2023

Good morning,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for your interest in joining me today.

Let me begin by extending my most heartfelt thanks to the people and government of the Republic of Korea, for the kindnesses and courtesies so generously extended to us throughout this very hospitable stay.

I have travelled, for my first official trip as President of the General Assembly, to the beautiful and dynamic Republic of Korea, on the occasion of the annual meeting of the Council of Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly. Let me say at the outset that I have been truly humbled by the warm welcome offered to me by the people and government of the Republic of Korea.

Throughout the two-day conference, a series of thematic discussions was held under Chatham House Rules. These addressed: the key takeaways from this year��s High-Level Week; revitalisation of the General Assembly; the war against Ukraine and the deteriorating situation in the Middle East �C while considering the role of the General Assembly and its President in relation to these questions.

This august body is composed of all former Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly, who have all dealt with major international crises, and from whom I have much to learn. Therefore, on each of these topics, I heard the former PGAs�� varied perspectives in a constructive and engaging manner. The Conference has, so far, been a success.

Before our Conference began, we undertook a familiarization tour of the Demilitarised Zone, just north of Seoul. This visit set the tone for our conversations �C how can the General Assembly strengthen international relations and foster cooperation on a range of global issues, while promoting peace and sustainability for everyone, everywhere?

I also had the privilege of engaging with the President of the Republic of Korea, Mr. Yoon Suk Yeol; the Prime Minister, Mr. Han Duck-soo; and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Park Jin. We discussed a range of issues, from denuclearisation, to human rights, through Korea��s development agenda to efforts to combat climate change.

I will also be meeting with the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban ki-Moon, directly after this.

Yesterday, I delivered a Guest Lecture to the Institute of Global Engagement and Empowerment at Yonsei University. I laid out the four guiding principles of my Presidency — peace, prosperity, progress, and sustainability — during my lecture, which was then followed by a Q&A with the students. Education being a priority of my Presidency, it was a pleasure to interact with these bright young minds, and I am grateful to Yonsei University for the invitation.

In a time of heightened tension in many regions of the world, dialogue is critical. I came to Seoul with the intention of learning from my predecessors, and I am glad to say I have done just that, and more. Yes, this is a time where multilateralism is under threat, but it is not hopelessly so.

Our role, and our responsibility, as Ģ��Ƶ Officials, is to foster peace to the best of our ability.

From climate change to sustainable development, from regional peace to international security, from? denuclearization to human rights �C this trip addressed a wide array of issues.

I pledged to keep my door open and offer the good offices of the Presidency of the General Assembly, to any nation or leader desiring assistance in resolving a conflict �C and I am glad to have shared this message to both the government and people of Korea, as well as with my knowledgeable predecessors.

I open now turn the floor for your questions.

Q&A:

Question 1:

During your stay in Korea, you met with Foreign Minister Park Jin, who expressed deep concerns over Russia and North Korea’s military cooperation. And I’m curious as to whether you could elaborate on what you two discussed and perhaps what your message is with regards to this issue.

Response:

Thank you for the question. Without getting into specific details, the Foreign Minister and I discussed the curious security situation on the Korean Peninsula. It was perhaps best that my encounter with him took place the day after we had visited the DMZ and gotten a very graphic picture impression of the situation on the ground. We did reference the fact that Russia and North Korea are having dialog and that our hope is that out of that dialog nothing would be done or no policy measures would be developed that would in any way increase. Tensions on the peninsula, or violate the terms of the Amesis agreement, or increase tensions and therefore threaten the stability and security of the peninsula.

Question 2:

As a follow up question, what specific support can South Korea expect from the Ģ��Ƶ regarding the North Korean missile search?

Response:

Thank you very much for the question. The Ģ��Ƶ works in several different ways, but perhaps one of its most powerful and influential ways of working is to reflect and advocate the values and principles that are enshrined in the charter. And I say that because the test firing of missiles by North Korea constitute a violation of the international law. The international law is there to protect and guarantee the safety of all states. And so it would be my hope that the North Korean authorities would honor their obligations under international law, cease these provocative engagements, and conform with the established practice regarding the use or threat of the use of force.

Question 3:

My question is recently resolution for Israel Gaza crisis was noted, and so are the issues for North Korea and Ukraine issues. So there is constant voice of the need to reform NSC. In what way do you think it should be reformed, and what would be the first step to do this?

Response:

That’s a brilliant question. I wish I had a brilliant answer, but I don’t. Let me say this. Reform of the Security Council of the Ģ��Ƶ remains one of the key objectives of the Ģ��Ƶ system. It is very well acknowledged that the system as it was constructed post 1945 is no longer relevant to the needs of the system today in the 21st century, but also that the Council needs to more effectively represent the changed circumstances of the globe in the 21st century. By that I mean power relations globally have shifted significantly since the Cold War, and we need a Security Council that better reflects that. Some people will refer to this as the democratization of the Council, but however you slice it, we need a Security Council that is fit for purpose, that is able to take decisions on critical issues before the international community and act decisively, particularly in the realm of peace and security, which is its primary mandate. However, reform is not the prerogative of the President of the General Assembly, that is the prerogative of the General Assembly acting together. And I should say that those discussions are ongoing. There has been a process of discussing what type of Security Council members would like to see.

However, official negotiations on that score are yet to be commenced. But please bear in mind that reform of the Council is going to be a process. It will not be an event. We won’t awaken one morning, tomorrow morning, or next week and discover that there is a new recast Security Council. This is going to require the engagement of all 193 members of the General Assembly, adopting a new organizational structure of the Council. And that process is an ongoing process. Some members are agitating that the process should be advanced in earnest for formal negotiations to begin. Others are not quite as convinced. And since the General Assembly works, by and large by consensus, that conversation continues to see where it will take us in terms of launching formal negotiations for the reform of the Council.

Question 4:

The world is under more severe military greed than ever before, and Koreans also feel responsible. What do you expect the Korean government to do at the United Nations and international community? What should the Korean government do for world peace?

Response:

It’s doing a lot of that already. I should let you know. But come January of next year, Korea, the Republic of Korea, will become a member of the Security Council. The Security Council still exists, still meets, it still works. And so it will become a non permanent member next year. I have every reason to believe that it is going to be an active and credible member of the Security Council. Given the history of Korea and given Korea’s deep commitment to international peace and security, we are at a time when we need more peace, not less. But unhappily. Growing international tensions and conflicts seem to be taking us quite in the opposite direction. However, the objective remains as it is in my four priorities for my presidency. With peace being at the very top of the agenda, we have to, as an international community, work harder and maybe smarter to achieve peace and security, to minimize the risk of international conflict. Because conflict is destructive, not just physically. It’s destructive of sound economic performance, of job growth, of giving people hope and of our ability to complete the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 which are designed to lift people out of poverty and marginalization, give them hope that they can self actualize and live their best lives in a world safe and secure from war and the anguish and harm that war does to societies.

Question 5:

You mentioned about the multilateral cooperation yesterday, yesterday and today as well. What do you think the international society has to do toward the cris in Gaza, the war between Israel and Hamas? And secondly, the resolution yesterday was not confirmed because the US. Has vetoed the resolution because the right of the self defense of Israel was not mentioned. So to what extent do you think Israel��s right self-defense has to be guaranteed?

Response:

Well, first of all, let me say that the situation in the Middle East, particularly in Israel and in Gaza, requires that arrangements are put in place urgently for humanitarian aid to be made available and delivered to all those who need it within Gaza. This is extremely important in protecting and saving the lives of civilians on both sides of this conflict. People simply cannot exist. There’s a report on CNN this morning that food supplies are very low and that sometimes people have one meal every two days. There clearly is a lot of suffering going on for which there is a need for international humanitarian relief. And I hope that the authorities will see their way in facilitating that humanitarian access. The other thing that needs to happen is for all of the hostages to be released, and this is for a very practical reason. Until the temperature can be lowered by actions on both sides, then what we are facing is an international humanitarian catastrophe. That is all that will be the result. And in those circumstances, those who suffer the most and bear the brunt of the cost of military engagement, such as is being proposed, are women and children, civilians primarily, who have committed no wrong.

So we need to take steps to save lives, save civilian lives, to end the bloodshed, and hopefully to initiate some sort of dialog that can take us out of this situation of virtual desperation. You asked a question about Israel’s. The fact that a veto was used yesterday as a consequence of the fact that it made no reference to Israel’s right to self defense. Well, let us put this in context. It is written in international law that every state has a right of self defense. If you are under attacked by a hostile international force. You have the right, it is an innate right to self defense, and therefore, that right also extends to the state of Israel.

Question 6:

Mr. President. I have another question about North Korea. It is widely speculated that China has recently forcibly repatriated hundreds of North Korean defectors in their country at the concerns of international human rights groups. Did you by any chance discuss this issue during your meetings with South Korean officials? And I would like to hear their thought about China’s repatriation of North Korean defenders.

Response:

Our conversation did not focus in any detail on the role of China in Korea, south Korea’s relationship with North Korea? That was not discussed at all. On the question of the repatriation of North Korean citizens, I’m afraid I don’t have the details on this, and therefore I would prefer not to comment.

Question 7:

Just a question on Gaza attacks. Do you think the Israeli Hamas conflict will become a priority among the offenders to be discussed in the General Assembly? Because there are concerns that issues like the Ukrainian war or North Korean issues could be side-lined in the international community.

Response:

I believe that the likelihood is that there will be a discussion in the General Assembly on the state of affairs as they are unfolding before our very eyes in the Middle East. And for good reason, because we are daily watching with great anxiety the possibility of the unfolding of a major military conflict that will have important regional geopolitical consequences. We are quite literally on the brink, and so sober reflection, dictates that we find the means in order to pull back, because should all out military conflict occur, untold damage, suffering, pain, loss of lives will occur. No one wants this. War is always avoidable. Always avoidable. War is a decision that we make as human beings, and therefore it’s avoidable on the question of Ukraine, that might have gone off the headlines of the media because of the situation in Gaza, but I’m quite sure that it will not go off of the agenda of the United Nations. This is an ongoing matter that related directly to the violation of the United Nations Charter and to international law. And therefore it posed a threat to the very system of multilateralism. So it is so fundamental to the system, to the multilateral system, so fundamental to our values, that the likelihood is that it will not disappear, because, of course, the issue remains unresolved.

There’s still a war taking place there. Several casualties are being reported every day in very, very many instances. In most of the instances, again, it’s civilian casualties. These issues that do not sit comfortably with the United Nations. Just recall that the charter says in graphic terms, in order to save mankind from the scourge of war. So it’s about saving lives, preserving life, at all costs. Thank you.

Question 8:
All the issues that you just mentioned, touched on are critical and obviously very important. But at this point, what do you see as the most urgent one to be dealt with on the Ģ��Ƶ General Assembly’s agenda?

Response:

We have an all encompassing agenda. It is wide and it is broad and it’s wide and it’s broad because of the diversity of interests that come together under the umbrella of the Ģ��Ƶ. It is why people come, it is why countries seek membership, because countries want to be part of the system and to make a contribution to the system that will ensure that their interests are not overlooked or ignored. So being in the game requires you to literally be in the game. And so we don’t cherry pick, we don’t rank issues per se. For example, even while there are vexatious issues such as what is happening the war in Ukraine, such as what is happening in Gaza, such as the conflicts in Africa, the fact of the matter still remains that we are woefully short in terms of our performance in completing and delivering the SDGs, which was a commitment. Sustainable Development Goals. This was a commitment that the Ģ��Ƶ gave in 2015 that clearly has to continue to be a priority because that is a blueprint for global development, sustainable development, taking development to places where it is in deficit. I ask you to ponder for a while this country’s history 60, 70 years ago and what it would have meant for Korea at that time.

And so there are places in the world 680,000,000 people living in abject poverty, with hunger, not knowing where the next meal will come from, unable to provide affordable access to their children for health care is not satisfactory. In an international system that generates such extraordinary wealth, there has to be a way to reduce the inequity that defines the global economic system. And so you want to bring more and more people into that system so that they can participate in and benefit from the wealth and success of the system. That is why the buzzword for the SDGs is leave no one behind. Because we can all grow and be lifted to achieve success, individual, community, national success, if we commit and do what is necessary to implement the SDGs by 2030. So that remains a priority. It remains a priority as well for the Ģ��Ƶ that the rights of women and girls should be respected and upheld across the world. In many countries in the world, women are treated like second class citizens.

Their fundamental rights are not respected. If you are female and you’re born in Afghanistan, you will not be permitted to go to school. Chances are, as a young girl, you would become the wife and mother of a male Afghan citizen, maybe at a very tender age. And therefore your chances of becoming a successful professional woman leading an independent life of fulfillment, personal fulfillment, amount to zero. So we’ve got to continue to work on these issues because there are many places in the world where women are, in fact, regarded and treated as second class citizens, where women are paid, are compensated differently from men for performing the same jobs. That’s a reality in many places in the world. So the Ģ��Ƶ prioritizes all of these things because this is the stuff that feeds conflict and undermines social stability. And that social stability is key because if managed effectively, avoids conflict, and conflict leads to war. So it’s all by way of providing the conditions that facilitate peace and stability that the SDGs have been developed and are being pursued. And so I would ask you, as journalists, whenever you have the opportunity in your reports, to include a statement or two on the importance of the SDGs to global development.

The government of Korea, I know, has demonstrated a high level of leadership and maturity in its policy approaches towards development. Your President, earlier this year in New York, committed courier to increasing its overseas development aid, ODA, by 40%. It’s a very impressive number at a time when, because of the situation globally, resources being channelled to development by the wealthy countries seem increasingly to be reduced. But your government has taken the strategic decision to act and to move in the opposite direction, to help and support people living in desperate circumstances to rise up. And that is an indication of informed leadership for which we at the United Nations salute the government and people of Korea.

Conclusion with an anecdote:

Korean leaders, young global leaders, students at Yongsei University. I was very pleased to meet them. They’re very motivated. They are. I wish I could follow their growth over the next 10-15 years. But as I was leaving, I saw a young child standing there with her mom. And I was driven, I don’t know why, to go over and say hello, only to discover that this young girl has the ambition to become the Secretary General of the United Nations. This is a young Korean. The Ģ��Ƶ. Has never had a female secretary general. This is not a good thing. After 75 years, it does not show well that the Ģ��Ƶ has never had a female leader, particularly since much of the policy that the Ģ��Ƶ is promoting actively has to do with gender equity and gender parity. So I mentioned this because here is this young girl with this big ambition. And I’ve said to her, Follow your dream. Do not give up. I hope I’m around still. Maybe in 20 or 30 years to see where she will be. And I really do hope that she will become Secretary General of the Ģ��Ƶ. Which would not be inconsistent with the fact that Korea has gifted to the Ģ��Ƶ.

Some very impressive figures in the person of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and also the chairman of the Ģ��Ƶ council of former Presidents of the United Nations, chairman Han Seung-soo. So you talk about leadership. You’ve had leadership in the past. You’ve had leadership to a significant degree in the present. And if the future materializes for this young girl, Korea will again have leadership at the global level. I wish her and the people of Korea every success. Thank you.

Ģ��Ƶ

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