열린장관실

 Statement by

H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade

of the Republic of Korea

at the High-Level Meeting on Iraq of

the United Nations General Assembly

18 September 2006

Your Excellency Jalal Talabani, President of the Republic of Iraq, and

Your Excellency Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations,

It is a great honour and privilege for me to be here today.  On behalf of the Korean government, I wish to express my deep appreciation to the United Nations and to the Government of Iraq for jointly hosting this important event.

I would also like to thank His Excellency Mr. Ashraf Jehangir Qazi and His Excellency Mr. Barham Salih for their presentations on the future of Iraq.

It is encouraging that the new Government of Iraq and its people have implemented Security Council Resolution 1546.  I believe the International Compact with Iraq is indeed a timely and crucially significant initiative for establishing a new Iraqi nation.  The Compact clearly reflects Iraq’s confidence in building a secure, unified, federal and democratic nation.

On behalf of the Korean government, I wish to express our full support for and commitment to the Compact.  In the process of the Compact’s implementation, Korea is ready to share its past experience of post-war national economic development.  From the 1960s through the 1990s, Korea implemented an “Economic Development Master Plan” which was the groundwork for its economic growth and its successful integration into the global economy.  I believe that our experience is well-suited to providing substantive advice and information that will aid Iraq in the implementation of the Compact. 

The International Compact with Iraq presents a great vision but also poses a few future challenges.  First of all, we must recognize that the successful implementation of a national reconciliation policy is the prerequisite for the success of Iraq’s reconstruction.  In this regard, I believe that the Iraqi government’s ability to ensure security for the foreseeable future will encourage donor assistance programs.  Furthermore, maintaining security and establishing economic development in Iraq are closely related to achieving peace and prosperity in the region and in the world.

Thus, it is for the people and the government of Iraq to take the lead in implementing the Compact.  Post-conflict recovery, history shows, depends upon both strong leadership and highly-skilled and highly-motivated human resources.  These are qualities that we have witnessed in Iraq over the past months and which suggest prospects for a brighter future during the challenging phase of national reconstruction.

I therefore would like to emphasize that Korea’s assistance programs are being implemented with due consideration to Iraq’s National Development Strategy.  Since the Madrid Conference in 2003, Korea has fulfilled over 70 percent of its pledged total of US $260 million.  In 2003, Korea was among the first nations to conduct a training program for 61 Iraqi officials. Since then, we have invited some 800 officials to Korea for training and by 2007 we plan to invite a total of 2,000 more.

I take this opportunity to acknowledge the UN’s instrumental role in bringing about stability to this post-conflict country.  Since its establishment on 14 August 2003, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) played a leading role in monitoring the general elections and in providing technical and other aid to the people of Iraq and its government.  And in its role as Co-chair in meetings devoted to launching the International Compact with Iraq, the UN has demonstrated that it is both a “peace-creator” as well as a “peacekeeper.”

I hope that the Compact to be discussed this afternoon will serve as a basis for a new global partnership guiding Iraq’s successful national transition under the provisions of Security Council Resolution 1546.  Let me assure you that Korea remains committed to helping Iraq.

Finally, I extend my best wishes to the Co-chairs from the United Nations and the Iraqi Government for the success of this high-level meeting.

Thank you. //End//