With Kofi Annan, United Nations secretary-general, announcing his U.N. reform plans, the greatest reform since the founding of the institution has come into viewing range. Korea, too, must actively participate in this process and widen the space in which it could participate in the agendas of the global village.
Annan’s reform plan presents four projects and plans for their realization. These four projects would be “freedom from want,” “freedom from fear” and “freedom to live with dignity” -- development, security and human rights -- and the strengthening of U.N. bodies.
In the development section, the demand made to developed nations that they give 0.7 percent of their GDP to development assistance by 2015 draws attention. This is something Korea must pay heed to. In the security section, should the principles on the exercise of the rule of force be implemented as is, we hope it could greatly help in managing the high-handedness of Great Powers such as the unilateral invasion of Iraq by the U.S. The establishment of a standing committee on human rights and creation of a democracy endowment conforms to the demands of our age.
The part that is drawing the most interest is the two plans to reform the Security Council. Plan A calls for the permanent membership of the council, currently monopolized by the U.S., U.K., France, Russia and China, to be expanded to 11 nations, while Plan B calls for the addition of eight semi-permanent members that can be re-elected. The former plan is believed to better reflect regional representation.
Japan’s moves are noteworthy. Japan is actively supporting Plan A and aims to become a permanent council member, but when one considers what Japan has done to the nations it victimized during the colonial period, this is inappropriate. Tokyo’s attempt to beautify its imperial history and its pursuit of becoming a military Great Power goes against the U.N.’s spirit of peace preservation. A nation that knows not how to reflect on its faulty past has no right to assume a leadership position in the international community. U.N. reform and the strengthening of its bodies are urgent tasks, but one must sufficiently consider ethics and responsibility in the process.
The Hankyoreh, 23 March 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (MRT)]
[Editorial] U.N. Reform and Japan’s Inappropriate Moves |
