The President held a summit with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on March 24, on the sidelines of the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit, and exchanged views on a variety of topics of mutual interest, including the state of affairs on the Korean Peninsula, development cooperation, and green growth.

The President and UN Chief Ban concurred that North Korea’s announcement of a long-range Missile launch to be a “grave provocation” and a violation of UN Security Council resolutions. At the summit, The President praised the UN’s prompt release of a statement urging the North Korean regime to retract the plan. The two leaders agreed to cooperate closely in tackling any threats associated with the planned Missile launch.

As the talk revolved around development cooperation and green growth, both leaders gave a positive evaluation of the continued progress in bilateral collaboration. They consented to cooperate with each other for the advancement of the Korean-initiated Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) in the context of sustainable development along with the successful hosting of the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development -- also referred to as the Rio+20 -- held in Brazil from June 20 to 22.

UN Secretary General Ban attributed high marks to Korea’s steady contribution to the international community by hosting the conference convened to delve into issues of nuclear security, following the hosting of 2010 Seoul G20 Summit and the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan last year.

The President praised the UN’s active role in dealing with all affairs as well as its outcome and voiced his hope that the UN’s accomplishment may be further promoted through the Yeosu Expo’s UN Pavilion.

By Hwang Dana
Korea.net Staff Writer