STATEMENT BY
H.E. CHO TAE-YUL
VICE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
AT SUMMIT ON COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM
WASHINGTON D.C., 19 FEBRUARY 2015

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Only a month ago, a Korean teenager, who was supposedly exposed to and tempted by ISIL propaganda through the internet, went missing near the Turkish-Syrian border. It was a shocking and sobering reminder to all Koreans that no country in the world is safe from the malicious impact of violent extremism.

We now painfully realize that people are increasingly vulnerable to extremist ideologies, messages and narratives. Unless world-wide, stepped-up efforts are made to effectively address the root causes of this problem, violent extremism will continue to proliferate.

 
But the problem is that there is no single path towards radicalization and that terrorists look "disturbingly normal" as a terrorism expert once put it. In most cases, however, a key to the solution is inclusiveness. And it is also the case for Korea which has been rapidly transforming into a more heterogeneous, pluralistic and multi-cultural society.

Against this backdrop, we have recently embarked upon a government program to raise the public awareness on CVE, which includes, among others, broad-based research on potential risk of violent extremism in Korea and introduction of the school curriculum on violent extremism and its radicalization through social media.

In the coming months and years, while diligently dealing with potential risk and threat of violent extremism at home and abroad, we will actively participate in international efforts to prevent and counter violent extremism in the priority areas where we might have comparative advantage and strength.

Education is one of those priority areas. As recognized in the UNSC resolution 2178, education plays a key role in reducing the risk of radicalization. Based upon rich experience of development cooperation in this area, we will strengthen the components of education and vocational training in our ODA programs with a tailored approach to CVE in the most vulnerable regions and communities.

Engaging the private sector is another significant element of CVE efforts. Korea is known for its success in fully utilizing public private partnership (PPP) in the development process in the past. Lessons we learned in building PPP could be helpful for engaging the private sector in preventing and countering violent extremism in the high-risk communities. As Korea is one of the leading countries in IT industries and social network businesses, we can also play a positive role in countering violent extremist messaging and narratives. To this end, we will seek opportunities to work with the leading Korean companies in this field and encourage them to participate in the Technology Roundtable, one of the four Roundtables suggested by the US. We will also encourage the Korean companies actively engaging in CSR activities to allocate more resources to the CVE-focused programs.

As CVE is still new to many countries including my own, it is only natural that a priority is given to identifying and addressing the local drivers of violent extremism. We would welcome the opportunity to work with the Hedayah Center in Abu Dhabi established to this end. We can support its work by co-organizing a workshop for government officials and other stakeholders to share the best practices in CVE.

Finally, we will consider making financial contributions to the international programs for countering violent extremism including the UN counter-terrorism mechanism.

We appreciate the timely initiative of the U.S. government to convene this meeting at this critical juncture. Korea is committed to working together with all stakeholders in the global community and playing its due part in our collective efforts to win this important battle. Thank you. /END/