UNGA: SOUTH KOREAN PERM REP ON POSSIBLE NEW SC

C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000978 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/27/2018 TAGS: PREL EFIN SENV UNSC UNGA IN BR PK IT JP GM SUBJECT: UNGA: SOUTH KOREAN PERM REP ON POSSIBLE NEW SC REFORM STRATEGY, G-20 SUMMIT AND SYG'S PLANS, AND RIO 20 CONFERENCE REF: A. USUN NEW YORK 960 ¶B. USUN NEW YORK 902 Classified By: Ambassador Khalilzad for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Ambassador Park told Ambassador Khalilzad October 24 that the Indian Perm Rep may send a letter to the UN General Assembly President (PGA) pressing for a compromise start date of mid-December for UN Security Council reform intergovernmental negotiations. Park and Khalilzad agreed they would both press the PGA to abide by the "spirit" of the compromise decision (62/557) and not start the negotiations before February. Park said the Uniting for Consensus (UFC) bloc concluded it needs to adjust its Security Council reform platform to attract new members in order to be a credible counterweight to the Group of Four (G-4) when intergovernment negotiations commence. Proposals include longer-term members who can seek re-election and a specific two-year rotating seat specifically for small, island, or land-locked states. Ambassador Khalilzad responded that re-electable, longer-term members could be an interesting idea and said he would convey the proposal back to Washington. Park recounted his recent conversation with Secretary General Ban, who will be away from the UN during the October 30 Interactive Panel on the Global Financial Crisis, but is planning to host an informal plenary briefing followed by a discussion during the period November 6-11 to collect input from the membership for Ban's participation in the G-20 Summit. Park reiterated Korea's interest in hosting a Rio 20 conference in Korea in 2012 (ref B) to which Ambassador Khalilzad replied that he had not heard back from Washington on the proposal. End summary. UN Security Council reform -------------- ¶2. (C) Ambassador Park thanked Ambassador Khalilzad in an October 24 bilateral meeting for his first-hand involvement in pressing the UN General Assembly President (PGA) to not accelerate the timeline for the start of Security Council reform intergovernmental negotiations (ref A). Park relayed that, according to the Italian Ambassador, the Indian Perm Rep may be planning to send a letter to the PGA asking for a compromise start date for intergovernmental negotiations in mid-December. Both Ambassadors Park and Khalilzad agreed they would be "vigilant" in pressing the PGA to abide by "spirit" of the September 15 compromise decision (62/557). ¶3. (C) Ambassador Park said that the Uniting for Consensus (UFC) bloc has concluded that it cannot "survive" with its previous platform of only supporting an expansion of non-permanent seats and is, therefore, considering modifying its platform to emphasize interim measures. Park said the UFC hoped to attract one-third of the membership and be a credible block to the Group of Four (G-4),giving the UFC some negotiating weight for the phase of intergovernmental negotiations. One proposal under consideration would be for longer-term members (length of term still under discussion) who can seek re-election. He said there would be no specification as to which countries would get these longer-term seats. They would be open to competition and therefore available to emerging powers. Park stressed, however, that Korea remained opposed to an expansion of permanent members. By Korea's calculation, such a proposal in favor of longer-term and re-electable members could prove attractive to 15-20 emerging powers who might be willing to join their bloc. Also under consideration, he said, is a proposal to set aside a regular two-year non-permanent rotating seat or seats specifically for small, island, or land-locked states who are not normally able to compete for a seat in a regional group. He provided the example of Bhutan and the Solomon Islands in the Asia Group. Ambassador Park requested U.S. feedback on these proposals. ¶4. (C) Ambassador Khalilzad responded that the U.S. has generally not weighed in on the idea of a specific seat or seats for small, island, or land-locked states since we think regional seats afford them the opportuntiy for representation. Our focus on reform has been how to accomodate the emerging powers. Our concern about longer-term memberships has been that it might encourage irresponsible behavior from those in permanent campaign mode for re-election. Ambassador Khalilzad said he would convey the proposals back to Washington for review and would be in touch with Washington's response. G-20 Summit and role of the UN -------------- ¶5. (C) Ambassador Park said he had spoken to Secretary General Ban who confirmed that he would be away from the UN during the PGA's October 30 Interactive Panel on the Global Financial Crisis but that Ban had met with a group of prominent economists October 23 and would meet October 24 with the heads of the Bretton Woods institutions. According to Park, Ban is planning to host an informal plenary briefing followed by discussion during the period November 6-11, so that Ban can collect input from the membership to convey to the G-20 Summit. Ambassador Khalilzad replied that he has advocated for the Secretary General to be given an opportunity to speak at the G-20 Summit. Ambassador Park relayed that the French Ambassador had heard that the PGA may try to introduce a GA resolution to influence the G-20 deliberations. Ambassador Khalilzad said that we would be closely monitoring the PGA to head off such an initiative. Rio 20 Conference -------------- ¶6. (C) Ambassador Park followed up on his October 1 discussion with Ambassador McMahan (ref B) about Korea's interest in hosting a Rio 20 conference in Korea in 2012. He reiterated that it is the right time for Asia to host such a stock-taking conference and said that the G-77 was pushing for such an event. Park suggested that a resolution be adopted calling for a world conference in 2012. Afterwards the decision can be made on which country should host. Ambassador Khalilzad said he had not heard back from Washington about Korean's proposal but would press for a reply. Khalilzad