South Korean FM to visit New York

South Korea’s Foreign Minister will visit New York this weekto lead United Nations activities the country is planning to host during its one-month presidency at the UN Security Council (UNSC) in May, the foreign ministrysaid Monday.The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that during his five-day visit toNew York starting this Saturday, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se is planning to hosta public discussion on the global fight against proliferation of weapons of massdestruction (WMD), according to South Korea’s (Yonhap) News Agency. A nonpermanent member of the UNSC, South Korea is scheduled to take the rotatingpresidential seat of the security body in May. During the one-month presidency, thecountry is planning to push for the adoption of a statement on the UN resolution1540, which calls for efforts to enforce legal and regulatory measures against the proliferation of WMD, including chemical and nuclear weapons, especially bynonstate actors.The public discussion slated for May 7 is part of the country’s bid to adopt thestatement.South Korea is the chair country for the 1540 Committee, which was established tohelp supervise member countries’ implementation of the nonproliferation resolution.On May 5, Yun is also scheduled to hold a meeting with Catherine Ashton, the highrepresentative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy for the EuropeanUnion, and deliver an address to the UN’s high-level meeting on culture andsustainable development, according to the ministry.During the New York visit, Yun will also meet with Henry Kissinger, a former USsecretary of state, the ministry also said.