Excellencies,
Let me begin by paying tribute to all those serving, as we speak, in UN peace missions around the world.
They are helping to make our world more peaceful and more secure.
Peace operations can indeed make a huge difference.
This is something the Republic of Korea knows full well, given our experience from the Korean War.
Thus, Korea has been taking active part in a wide range of peace operations led by the UN.
Today's peacekeeping summit comes on the seventieth anniversary of the UN's founding.
It's a valuable occasion for us to renew our commitment to the vision inscribed in the UN Charter : "to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security."
Fellow leaders,
We see today, how international conflicts are growing ever more complex, how violent extremism is spreading far and wide.
And yet, the UN's capacity to conduct peace operations in response remains less than adequate.
As the June report of the High-Level Panel points out, UN peace operations need to be holistic in the strategy they pursue.
They must prevent conflicts, avoid relapse, and address root causes.
It goes without saying that the UN's capacity to plan and deploy peace operations needs to be vastly strengthened.
The Republic of Korea will actively support international efforts to enhance UN peace operations.
First, Korea intends to deploy an additional engineering unit.
They will be assisting reconstruction and humanitarian activities in conflict zones.
Korean peacekeepers have long been guided by the belief that genuine peace stems from the minds of people; hence, their distinctive focus on cementing bonds with local communities, whether in Lebanon, Haiti, South Sudan or elsewhere.
This is an approach that's been widely well-received.
Second, Korea will strengthen partnerships with regional organizations that have a better grasp of their neighborhood and can furnish rapid responses.
Specifically, Korea plans to provide, among others, deployable level-two hospital equipment through the African Union to enhance peacekeeping capacity in Africa.
Lastly, Korea will steadily scale up its financial contributions to support the UN's conflict prevention and peacebuilding activities.
This would be fitting, given Korea's presidency of ECOSOC and its presence in the Peace Building Commission.
Excellencies,
Conflict and strife may seem endemic to the human condition.
But equally unremitting has been our yearning and striving for lasting peace.
We must live up to the vision of "saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war," as enshrined in the UN Charter.
To do so, we must rally our collective will to make peace operations stronger and pull together more closely.
In 1950, the UN stood united for peace to safeguard the Korean Peninsula.
Likewise, Korea will not hesitate to do what it must in the service of UN peace operations.
Thank you.
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