Welcoming Remarks
by H.E. Cho Tae-yul
Vice Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea
at The Seoul Post-2015 Conference
Implementation and Implications

October 7, 2013
Seoul

Mme. Rebeca Grynspan,
Minister Kim Sung-Hwan,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my great pleasure to welcome all of you to the Seoul Post-2015 Conference jointly organized by UNDP and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea. With only 800 days remaining until the target date for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Seoul Conference is aimed at discussing an effective implementation mechanism for a new development paradigm post-2015. It is indeed a timely and meaningful initiative. Let me express my special appreciation to Mme. Grynspan, Associate Administrator of UNDP, and my former boss Minister Kim, for joining us in this important event. I would also like to thank the staff of UNDP, especially the Seoul Policy Centre, for their excellent preparation for this conference.

UNDP and Korea

The relationship between Korea and UNDP is special indeed. The history of the UNDP Country Office in Korea is in fact the history of Korea’s economic development per se. Since it started operations in Korea 50 years ago, UNDP has remained a strong supporter for Korea’s efforts to eradicate poverty and modernize its economy. Delivering around 270 programs, UNDP has trained personnel in the areas of industry, agriculture, and science and technology. It has also contributed to modernizing the Port of Busan, which has now grown to become the 5th busiest container port in the world.

Today, Korea is a full-fledged donor country and ranks 12th on the Human Development Index. In 2009, UNDP finally closed its Country Office when Korea joined the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD. The Country Office in Korea is in fact the only UNDP office that completed its mandate of supporting the development efforts of a recipient country.

As UNDP once lent a helping hand to Korea in the time of need, Korea is now reaching out to the world working together with UNDP to eradicate poverty across the globe. And today’s conference is the fruit of the 50-year long friendship and solidarity between Korea and UNDP.

MDGs and Post-2015

Distinguished Guests,

Eradicating global poverty is humanity’s common mission in the 21st century; it is the spirit of the era. The history of mankind, which was tainted with tensions and conflicts among religions, races and ideologies, ushered in a new era with the launching of the MDGs in the year 2000. This accomplishment illustrated the international community’s genuine commitment to come together and advance a common prosperity. It was only possible because of the shift in our thinking that poverty was not a problem for individual countries alone, but a problem for the international community as a whole.

During the past 13 years, the international community, especially the United Nations, has been striving to attain the MDGs – more specifically the 8 goals and the 18 accompanying targets. As a result, despite the global economic crisis, substantial progress has been made, especially in the areas of eradicating extreme poverty, wiping out malaria and tuberculosis, and improving sources of water. And such achievements attest to the fact that the quest to reach the MDGs was not merely a campaign wrapped in abstract rhetoric.

Nevertheless, we still have a long way to go. We now face new challenges that were not anticipated in our path towards the MDGs – the deepening income inequality, increase in the number of marginalized people, climate change that is threatening our environmental sustainability, and the declining development finance on account of the economic downturn.

Recently, the international community has been trying to define the post-2015 development paradigm that will tackle these new challenges by taking into account not only the successes, but also the trials and errors made in our pursuit of the MDGs. And in the report of the UN Secretary-General on the post-2015 Development Agenda, released last August, a number of key elements were proposed, among others, ‘universality to all countries leaving no one behind’, sustainable development, economic transformation, peace and governance, and a new global partnership. This vision, that is more people-centered than ever before, is a promise to future generations that the international community will focus on a more universal mechanism for implementation.

Implementation of Post-2015 Global Partnership

Distinguished Guests,

British playwright John Fletcher once said, “Deeds, not words, shall speak me.” Likewise, without an effective implementation mechanism, the post-2015 development agenda will ring hollow. The decision by UNDP to add ‘the post-2015 implementation mechanism’ as the 12th theme of the thematic consultations is a manifestation of the commitment of the international community to ensure that the next set of development goals will be met. As you know, UNDP has been collecting inputs and views from around the world in the framework of the thematic consultations and identified 11 themes for the post-2015 development agenda.

To effectively carry out the post-2015 development agenda, pooling the scattered capacity and resources is essential. Accordingly, we need to build a new global partnership embracing various development actors. The global partnership should also be forged in and among the areas that are directly linked to the economic growth of developing countries, such as energy, trade, science and technology, and development finance. We should also share best practices globally, while setting up a system that promotes building partnerships in strategically important areas.

Today’s development landscape differs greatly from the time the MDGs were launched. For instance, South-South cooperation is expanding, while the civil society and the private sector are emerging as new development actors. Going forward, partnerships between developed and developing countries, as well as among civil society, businesses and local governments will become the key drivers in implementing the post-2015 development agenda.

We have already witnessed the importance of global partnerships while implementing the MDGs. Initiatives such as ‘Every Woman Every Child Initiative’, ‘Sustainable Energy for All’, and ‘Education First Initiative’ are cases in point of how a global partnership paved the way for real progress in the areas of women, children, energy and education.

We hope that the stand-alone partnerships that have developed in the course of implementing the MDGs will expand in a more systematic manner in the post-2015 era. In this regard, I believe it is necessary to actively make use of international institutional assets such as the Busan Global Partnership that was launched in 2012.

Korea’s Contribution to Post-2015

Distinguished Guests,

When President Kennedy dubbed the 1960s as the ‘Development Decade’, Korea was still struggling to recover from the ruins of war and the pains of poverty. Fortunately, under a strong political leadership and a ‘can do spirit’ that prevailed among its people, Korea was able to achieve industrialization and democratization in a relatively short period of time. And in 2009, Korea became the 24th member of the OECD DAC, the club of donor countries, which was founded 49 years ago.

Korea is clearly a latecomer when it comes to development cooperation as a donor country. But rest assured that the commitment of the Korean Government and the people to eradicate global poverty is strong and genuine. In fact, KOICA, the development arm of the Korean Government, which was established in 1991, has thus far sent nearly 10,000 Korean volunteers abroad, and Korea has now become only second to the United States in terms of the number of volunteers sent abroad for development cooperation. In 2010, as chair of G20, Korea successfully took an initiative for drawing up the Seoul Development Consensus, thereby placing development in the center of the G20 agenda. In 2011, as host of the Busan High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, Korea played a leading role in shifting the global development cooperation paradigm from ‘aid effectiveness’ to ‘effective development’ and building a more comprehensive and inclusive partnership for development cooperation.

The motivation that is driving Korea to step up its efforts in the area of poverty eradication lies in our strong resolve to pay back the international community what we have received. We are committed to share the know-how and experiences that we have accumulated while overcoming poverty in a span of a generation.

Korea’s development assistance cannot compare with that of other donor countries in terms of history and scale. However, as part of the global value chain, Korea will continue to make efforts to add value to the development cooperation landscape based on its unique development experiences. Systematic industrialization policies, successful rural development characterized by Saemaeul Undong or New Village Movement, a passion for education, and a strong leadership to coordinate development policies are some of the assets we hope to share with other developing countries. We intend to differentiate our development cooperation from those of traditional donor countries with a focus on quality rather than quantity using our unique experience as valuable asset. Simply put, we will pursue an ‘ODA that produces results’, an ‘ODA that can be appreciated by the global citizens’. To this end, we hope to further enhance our cooperation with UNDP.

The Park Geun-hye Government, which took office early this year, is focusing on building trust. Trust means making promises that can be delivered, and keeping promises that have been made. President Park Geun-hye declared her firm commitment to contribute to building a happy global village by placing Trustpolitik at the core of Korea’s foreign policy. This vision is in line with that of the post-2015 development paradigm, which is to open an era where all global citizens can realize their rights and live with hope and dignity.

Korea is well aware of the pains and agonies of developing countries, for the simple reason that we have been there as well. Korea, therefore, is well placed to seek solutions to problems that many developing countries face. We will actively support developing countries to eliminate the bottlenecks needed to escape from poverty and stand alone without assistance. We will put ourselves in their shoes and support their efforts to enhance the capacity to resolve problems on their own. Tailored development assistance full of humility and empathy is a development cooperation model that Korea is pursuing.

Conclusion

Ladies and Gentlemen,

At the UN General Assembly on September 24, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that, ‘Ours is the first generation that can wipe poverty from the face of the earth’. I believe this bears witness to his confidence that the international community has the capacity to eradicate poverty.

It is my hope that all development partners will come together and combine their efforts and resources to forge a global partnership for the post-2015 development paradigm. This will help move up the date for eradicating poverty and bringing about greater prosperity across the globe. The comments and proposals to be made during this conference will serve as precious intellectual assets in our move towards this shared goal. I can assure you that Korea will actively take part in the global efforts to design an effective implementation mechanism for the post-2015 development agenda and carry them out sincerely and enthusiastically.

Thank you very much.